Xanadu Upgrade: CMDB Plan: for ServiceNow is here, bringing powerful new AI features that directly impact CMDB, CSDM, and APM. Upgrading without a plan may cause unexpected disruptions, while preparing in advance can mitigate these risks and drive efficiency gains. Recent statistics show that organizations leveraging AI capabilities in service management report up to 60% improvement in efficiency and 30% reduction in manual effort. With these benefits in mind, planning for the Xanadu upgrade becomes a critical task to ensure seamless operations.

This article walks through best practices for analyzing new features, developing a robust testing strategy using AutomatePro, and addressing deprecated features. Get ready to leverage AI for smarter service mapping, issue prediction, and cost optimization.

Analyzing New AI Features

To ensure readiness for the upcoming upgrade from ServiceNow Washington Standard to Xanadu Professional, begin by categorizing and analyzing new AI features introduced in this version. These enhancements directly impact modules such as CMDB, CSDM, and APM, enabling better service mapping, predictive capabilities, and cost control.

Xanadu’s Now Assist for ITOM Event Management uses AI-generated alert analyses to enhance investigations. It provides actionable briefs, technical insights, and supports alert summaries, group descriptions, and incident creation from Service Operations Workspace. Now Assist also leverages past incidents to accelerate current resolutions.

Feature	Applicable Modules	How Initiated	Benefits	How to Use
AI-Based Service Mapping	CMDB, CSDM	Manual Trigger / Scheduled	Enhances visibility into infrastructure relationships and dependencies	Define AI mapping rules, run mapping jobs to validate relationships.
Predictive Issue Resolution	APM	Automatically Applied	Predicts potential issues and recommends actions	Analyze health scores and run automated resolution processes.
AI-Driven Cost Optimization	APM	Initiated via Dashboard	Provides recommendations for cost control based on usage data	Use cost insights for optimizing portfolio expenses.

Extending Your Test Library with AutomatePro

A robust testing strategy is key to a successful upgrade. AutomatePro allows you to extend your existing test library and seamlessly incorporate AI-driven features.

Step-by-Step Guide for Extending Tests

1. Clone Manual Test to Automated Test: Identify manual tests that can be converted to automated tests for upgrade validation. Clone these tests in AutomatePro, ensuring coverage of critical workflows and AI features.
2. Extend Existing Test Cases: Use the QuickStart AI feature to create additional steps for AI-driven features, closing any gaps in the test library.

Modifying Test Criteria for AI Features

To prepare for testing and take full advantage of the new AI criteria, modify your automated test criteria by focusing on the following key areas:

• Validate AI Predictions: Ensure that all AI-driven recommendations, such as role-based catalog predictions and health scores, are accurately captured in your tests.
• Dynamic Field Adjustments: Expand test coverage to validate that dynamic forms and fields adjust as per AI-generated data rules.
• Real-Time AI Updates: Incorporate tests that validate the system’s response to real-time AI updates, including service mapping adjustments and cost optimization recommendations.
• Role-Specific Testing: Develop tests for different user roles to ensure that AI-based dashboards and recommendations are accurately tailored to the intended audience.

Extend QuickStart AI Test Cases

• Forms: Use AI to validate that forms adjust dynamically according to new data rules.
• Service Catalogs: Ensure dynamic catalogs reflect the correct items based on role-based AI predictions.
• Record Producers: Validate that AI recommendations correctly reflect dependencies and workflows.

Recommended Test Criteria

• Manual to Autotest: Validate key workflows, upgrade impact, and AI functionality.
• QuickStart AI Forms: Test dynamic field generation and recommendations.
• QuickStart AI Service Catalog: Test item availability based on AI usage predictions.
• QuickStart AI Record Producer: Validate dependencies and automation triggered by input fields.

Section 2: Application Changes & New Features

Each application change must be tested for its impact on the overall system and any improvements in functionality, backward compatibility, and data accuracy.

Xanadu release updated features across ITOM products including:

• ITOM Health: Track and maintain the health of your organization’s services, including Health Log Analytics, Event Management, Agent Client Collector applications, and more.
• ITOM Cloud Accelerate: Provides workflows to assess cloud readiness and enforce ITOM Cloud Accelerate guidelines.
• ITOM Optimization: Automates cloud workflows for managing resources throughout their life cycles, offering visibility into costs and enabling the deployment of certified, enterprise-compliant clouds.
• ITOM Visibility: Provides a unified, connected view of your entire IT network and the services it supports.

Enhancements and updates to CMDB, CSDM, and APM:

Enhancement	Application/Module	Impact Analysis	Recommended Autotest
Service Mapping Enhancements	CMDB	Improved mapping capabilities	Create autotests to validate mapping of assets across environments.
Role-Based Dashboards	APM	Enhanced dashboards with AI recommendations	Develop autotests to confirm the accuracy of AI-driven recommendations for different roles.
CSDM Integration	CSDM	Better dependency management between CMDB and CSDM	Ensure seamless integration using autotests for entity relationships.

Section 3: Deprecated Features & Module Discontinuation

Upgrading involves removing old, inefficient features and replacing them with improved alternatives. Testing should ensure continuity of functionality while transitioning away from deprecated components.

Enhancement	Application/Module	Replacement and Usage Details	Testing Required	Autotest Changes
Legacy Reporting Framework	APM	New Enterprise Architecture Reporting Framework – Initiated through APM dashboard and used for enhanced analytics.	Confirm data integrity and functionality of the new framework.	Create validation tests for new reporting features and remove deprecated functions.
Legacy Service Mapping	CMDB	Updated Service Mapping – Initiated from CMDB settings, used for improved asset visibility.	Verify no impact on current mappings.	Run regression tests for affected relationships and validate new mapping processes.

User-Facing Auto Documentation Changes

Knowledge Articles

Update knowledge articles to inform users about new features, enhancements, and deprecated functionalities.

User Guides

Include comprehensive guides on major workflow changes and AI functionalities. Keep these focused on “how-to” steps for effective use of upgraded features.

Guided Tours

Add guided tours for features that change user workflows or interfaces significantly, such as AI-driven Predictive Issue Resolution.

Summary & Next Steps

The Xanadu Upgrade: CMDB Plan prepares your ServiceNow environment for the future. By leveraging AI, enhancing service mapping, and optimizing resource use, you can reduce downtime and improve operational efficiency. Use AutomatePro to extend your test library, validate all changes, and ensure readiness for the transition.

Ready to maximize the potential of the Xanadu upgrade? Start by assessing your current setup, identifying manual tests for automation, and implementing a comprehensive testing strategy with AutomatePro. The future of efficient service management is here—let’s get prepared!

Other Xanadu Upgrade: CMDB Plan Resources

• CMDB Collaborative Articles – LinkedIn
• CMDB Powered Digital Transformation – Dawn Christine Simmons
• Common Service Data Model (CSDM) Fundamentals
• Common Service Data Model
• CSDM and the CMDB Data Foundations Dashboards
• Discovery
• Exploring Now Assist for IT Operations Management (ITOM)
• How do AI agents enhance customer service management?
• How does ServiceNow’s Now Platform support the integration of AI agents?
• Intelligence & ML articles – ServiceNow Community
• ITOM Health
• ITOM Visibility
• Service Mapping
•  ServiceNow’s AI Acceptable Use Policy
• ServiceNow’s Generative AI Revolution – Dawn Christine Simmons
• ServiceNow Xanadu release
• What is the role of humans in oversight and governance of AI agents?
• Xanadu IT Service Management release notes:
• Xanadu IT Operation Management release notes: