Release Testing Preview (RTP) version release phase 1 of the Early Release Program

The Early Release Program provides existing customers the opportunity to upgrade to a version of the latest ServiceNow family release prior to Market Launch, also referred to as "General Availability" or "GA." The program is broken into two phases that work together to provide additional time to test release capabilities and the opportunity to try new features in the customer's own environment. Read on for details about Phase 1 of the Early Release Program, Release Testing Preview (RTP) version release.

Overview

Release Testing Preview (RTP) version release is phase 1 of the Early Release Program.

• Phase 1:  Release Testing Preview (RTP) is available at least 60 days prior to General Availability and offers a pre-release version for testing on sub-production instances. 
• Phase 2:  Early Availability (EA) is available at least 45 days prior to General Availability and offers a production-ready version for upgrade on both sub-production and production environments.

Now Platform Zurich Key Dates:

• Q2 2025: Early Release Program Registration Opens
• Early Q3 2025: RTP Begins
• Q3 2025: RTP Ends and Early Availability (EA) Begins

With the start of Early Availability (EA), all RTP customers will have access to upgrade their instances to the EA build at that time.

Release Testing Preview Program (RTP)

What is Release Testing Preview (RTP)?

• Release Testing Preview begins at least 60 days prior to Market Launch and will end at Market Launch, also referred to as "General Availability" or "GA"
• Release Testing Preview begins before Early Availability and offers the opportunity to upgrade sub-production environments to the RTP pre-release build
• Customers will have access to full support and release documentation at the start of Release Testing Preview

Who Should Participate?

• All existing customers and partners (excluding self-hosted and Regulated Markets such as Government Community Cloud (GCC)) are invited to participate in Release Testing Preview, with ideal candidates being:
  • Participants who are eager to take advantage of testing new features in their sub-production environment
  • Participants who need extra time to upgrade or who would like to perform early testing
  • Participants who are willing to engage and report issues/feedback promptly
  • Participants who want to be among the first who are knowledgeable about the new release

How Can I Participate?

• Active customers and partners may self-nominate their ServiceNow account via the Now Support (HI) Service Catalog item "Early Release Program Registration"
• Upon successful self-nomination, the account contacts will receive a confirmation email and next steps.

How Does it Work?

• Eligible customers and partners accounts self-register for the Early Release Program via the Now Support (HI) Service Catalog item "Early Release Program Registration"
• When the RTP version officially releases, the participants will receive an additional email with details on how to schedule sub-production upgrades through the "Instance Dashboard" page on Now Support (HI)
• During Release Testing Preview, any issues encountered should be submitted as a Case on Now Support (HI), and should be prefixed with release name (e.g. "Tokyo -" followed by the description)
• Once Early Availability begins, participants will receive the EA email notification and entitlement to the EA release build for upgrading both sub-production and production environments. They will no longer be able to schedule an RTP upgrade.
• Customers must upgrade to a production-ready build (e.g. Early Availability or General Availability) to upgrade their production environment.
• At Market Launch, the latest release becomes generally available to all customers. RTP and EA participants are then encouraged to upgrade to the Market Launch (GA) build.

What is the difference between Release Testing Preview and Early Availability?

1. Program timing within a Release:
   
   • Release Testing Preview starts at least 60 days prior to Market Launch
   • Early Availability starts 45 days prior to Market Launch
2. Sub-production vs. Production environment upgrades:
   
   • Release Testing Preview offers a pre-release build to customers for testing on sub-production instances only  
     
     • RTP is made available for use on non-production instance(s) only for the sole purpose of testing in preparation for upgrading to the latest Release Family
     • Any other use, including use of the RTP build in a production instance, would be a violation of the use restrictions set forth in the customer's contractual terms and conditions with ServiceNow, and is strictly prohibited
     • Cloning RTP to production is also prohibited.  In accordance with system clone best practices (here), a production instance cannot be used as the target instance for a clone after the instance is live
   • Early Availability allows customers to take a production-ready build to either sub-production or production environments.

What is not included in RTP?

• New Machine Learning capabilities
• Complete localization/ translation of the Platform
• Full product documentation and release notes

Release Testing Preview Preliminary Documents:

• Preliminary release notes for the Yokohama Release Testing Preview will be available in Q1, 2025.

Additional Information

For additional information, please review the Frequently Asked Questions or reach out to earlyavailability@servicenow.com

Zurich

Zurich