ServiceNow Releases Timeline: Evolution Through the Years

ServiceNow rolls out releases at least once a year, introducing new features, important changes, and bug fixes that help make your business workflows smarter and more efficient. By deploying the latest ServiceNow releases, you can ensure better security and prepare your technology stack for the future.

To help you stay ahead of these updates, we have compiled a ServiceNow releases list, covering all major updates from the earliest versions to the latest Xanadu release, and upcoming releases.

Let’s get started!

Timeline of ServiceNow Releases

Between the years 2008 and 2010, ServiceNow releases names were based on seasons—Summer, Winter, Fall, and Spring. In 2011, ServiceNow changed its naming scheme and renamed the releases based on cities’ names across the world, following the alphabetical approach.

Here’s an overview of ServiceNow releases by year:

2024

ServiceNow Xanadu Release

ServiceNow’s current release, Xanadu, was rolled out in Q3 2024 and is the latest release of ServiceNow that focuses on expanding Now Assist’s capabilities across different enterprise operations and enhancements.

Now Assist for Security Operations: Makes security incident management more efficient, improving response times and strengthening security operations.

• Generates incident summaries
• Suggests remediation methods
• Documents resolutions automatically for future references
• Analyzes incident complexity and impact, helping business teams prioritize critical threats.

Now Assist for Sourcing and Procurement Operations: Streamlines the overall procurement process while reducing manual efforts.

• Allows business teams to place orders using natural language prompts across multiple vendors.
• Sourcing requests are automatically shared with finance teams, ensuring better cost management and controlled enterprise spending.

Now Assist Skill Kit: Develop and accelerate automation capabilities

• Allows developers to build, test, and deploy custom GenAI skills. They can combine ServiceNow data into these skills for better accuracy and context.
• Allows integration of GenAI skills with third-party or custom LLMs for improved automation processes.

Now Assist Empowering Chat and Emails: Empowering service agents to accelerate response times.

• Suggests AI-generated, accurate, and context-aware responses for emails and chats.
• Change Summarization in ITSM allows IT teams to assess changes faster by summarizing change requests for better understanding.
• Now Assist benefits HR teams from Proactive Prompts, which send reminders for approvals, training, and other tasks.

The Xanadu release allows businesses to embed their own GenAI model into the Now Platform, embarking on built-in AI intelligence. ServiceNow emphasizes on Responsible AI, ensuring security, ethics, and compliance.

This is not all! Xanadu’s second part of the release unfolds improved productivity and strengthens collaboration.

Introduction of new IDE (Integrated Development Environment)

• It reduces complexity and improves collaboration efficiency for developers.
• Business teams can communicate their needs to developers, and they can develop custom solutions catering to them.

ServiceNow extends Application Portfolio Management

• Added ‘Enterprise Architecture’, a new feature that simplifies operations, cut costs, and reduces risks.
• It improves IT-business alignment, allowing businesses to optimize spending and maintain compliance.
• The enhanced Employee Center makes it easy for employees to find policies, upgrades, and benefits, saving time.

Now Assist for ITOM

• It predicts and prevents tech issues with proactive problem identification, notifies users instantly, and breaks down complex alerts into clear, actionable steps.

Xanadu boosts IT service reliability with AI-powered automation, reducing outages and improving efficiency. It cuts the Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR) by 20% and enhances team collaboration for smoother operations.

ServiceNow Washington DC Release

The ServiceNow Washington DC release was rolled out in Q1 of 2024, packed with improvements across existing features with AI and machine learning for better decision-making and automation across IT, customer service, security, HR, and risk management.

Newly introduced capabilities like Generative AI and Now Assist streamlined tasks, a Flow Designer Engine V2 simplified workflow creation, and features like Digital Product Release helped manage product updates smoothly.

Moreover, Workflow Studio offers a centralized spot for developers to build customized workflows, while Universal Request boosts teamwork for service agents.

2023

ServiceNow Utah Release

It was one of the major releases of the year, covering new tools and improvements to existing ones.

Key highlights include:

• Launch of a new tool called Workspace Builder for building apps and better ways to manage product installations and field service tasks.
• Enhancements into managing digital portfolios, software assets, hardware, and improvements into search capabilities.
• New feature upgrades for tracking contracts and streamlining asset maintenance.
• Leveraging AI for better automation and process efficiency, such as automating the donation of assets.
• New ways to handle software licenses and inventory management

Overall, the Utah release focuses on making work easier and more efficient across the board.

ServiceNow Vancouver Release

Important features from this release include new tools like Now Assist for smarter virtual agents and Task Intelligence to better handle IT incidents.

A key addition is the Access Analyzer, which helps manage user permissions more effectively across various elements like UI, tables, REST endpoints, and more.

Besides these launches, existing features like telecom services and risk assessments have been improved, along with a better user interface for business continuity management.

2022

ServiceNow San Diego Release

ServiceNow San Diego offered a fresh new look called Next Experience UI, which puts everything on a single page and allows personalization.

New introductions:

• Automation Engine uses robots (RPA) to handle repetitive tasks and connect different systems.
• Anonymous Report Center and Service Operations Workspace have been launched.

There were updates for specific industries like banking and healthcare, and existing product improvements like IT Service Management and Field Service Management have been improved.

Overall, it aimed to help businesses become more efficient and adapt to the changing digital world.

ServiceNow Tokyo Release

This release introduced new tools like:

• Document Intelligence helps pull info from documents using smart tech
• Manager Hub supports managers and simplifies employees accountability.
• Admin Center makes setting up digital processes easier
• ServiceNow Vault protects important data
• Debug Dashboard helps monitor app performance

There were enhancements that include faster case-solving in Customer Service Management with AI help, better field service planning, and smarter AI for tasks. Virtual Agent got smarter with language support, and Mobile Agent is now more useful offline.

The platform got upgrades for testing, security, and processes that could be optimized more effectively.

2021

ServiceNow Quebec Release

This release unrolled some of the major launches:

• UI Builder, which lets you easily create custom workspaces and portals.
• Instance Scan to help find potential problems in your setup
• Process Optimization to make sure your business processes are running smoothly.
• Analytics Q&A, where you can ask questions to generate reports.
• Engagement Messenger that helps connect with customers on other websites
• Predictive AIOps uses AI to predict and prevent issues.

ServiceNow Rome Release

It launched Employee Center Pro, a one-stop solution for employees to seek help across different departments, and Employee Journey Management, which enabled employees to smoothly navigate important milestones like joining, role changes, and leaving a company by providing a connected and personalized experience.

Health Log Analytics Enhancements performs proactive scanning to detect and fix IT issues before they cause problems, improving system reliability. Automation Discovery to help find the best ways to automate tasks.

The new Customer Service Playbooks offer layouts that improve the interface for agents, helping them quickly resolve issues by prioritizing important tasks and data, leading to better business results.

2020

ServiceNow Orlando Release

The ServiceNow Orlando release highlights the launch of the Now Intelligence offering:

• AI capabilities for on-spot questioning and answering
• Agent notifications for real-time alerts about updates
• Enhanced natural language understanding (NLU) for chatbots

ServiceNow Paris Release

It introduced new applications:

• Predictive Intelligence Workbench, which helps create smarter workflows
• Workforce Optimization for ITSM, designed to enhance service team performance and satisfaction.
• The HR Service Delivery Agent Workspace was also introduced, providing HR agents with a streamlined interface and tools for better document management.

Enhancements:

• IT Service Management included automated asset lifecycle management and a dashboard for tracking hardware assets.
• IT Operations Management integration with Cloud Insights helped analyze cloud costs, while Operational Intelligence captured metrics to prevent service failures.
• IT Business Management area saw improvements like mobile timesheets for easy time tracking and predictive intelligence for application management.
• Customer Service Management introduced features like a walk-up experience for customers and a self-service analytics dashboard.
• Now Platform’s Playbook Experience for visualizing workflows and an improved email client for quick messaging.

2019

ServiceNow Madrid Release

This release covered over 600 innovations across different departments.

One big update was the Mobile Studio, letting users easily create apps without coding. It also improved AI features like chatbots and made testing updates easier with the Automated Test Framework.

On top of this, the Agent Workspace got better, and a Field Service Mobile app was launched to help field technicians.

Some older features were removed, including Continual Improvement Management, and preconfigured workday integration and scorecards were replaced by Analytical Hub.

ServiceNow New York Release

It launched new tools like the Guided Application Creator, which assists users to build apps quickly, and mobile apps like Now Mobile and Mobile Onboarding to handle HR tasks and get new employees up to speed.

On the enhancement side, the update improved the ITSM Virtual Agent with smarter conversations, boosted HR service delivery with better document handling and mobile access, and made the Agent Workspace more customizable.

They also introduced Dynamic Translations to make the platform more accessible for everyone, regardless of language.

2018

ServiceNow London Release

The London release introduced ‘Unified Backlog’ to manage all tasks in one place, an ‘ITSM Virtual Agent’ chatbot to handle common IT requests, and ‘Essential SAFe’ to improve business planning. For customer service, it added ‘Major Issue Management’ to solve problems affecting many customers at once.

Overall, this release aimed to streamline processes and improve user experience across the ServiceNow platform.

2017

ServiceNow Jakarta Release

This release introduced an intelligent automation engine bringing machine learning to everyday tasks, with capabilities like anomaly detection, benchmarking against industry peers, and performance predictions.

It enhanced customer service management tools and improved security features like trusted security circles. The release also focused on HR automation, and software asset management and encouraged users to adopt dashboards. A notable addition was the new survey widget for the service portal.

ServiceNow Kingston Release

This release focused on making things easier and smarter with new launches. It introduced Agent Intelligence that used machine learning to automatically handle incidents, saving time and improving customer experiences. Flow Designer allowed people without coding skills to create automated workflows, and IntegrationHub connected ServiceNow to other popular tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams.

2016

ServiceNow Helsinki Release

The Helsinki release launched Portfolio Workbench, a part of Project Portfolio Suite that allows users to monitor the progress of projects within a portfolio.

It covered enhancements across the CSM application, adding new ways to connect to external customers through social communication channels.

Other updates relate to List v3, a ‘to-do list’-like feature, and streamlining the creation of easy-to-use websites.

ServiceNow Istanbul Release

It rolled out a new data model and CSM features designed specifically for B2C businesses, including anonymous and routed chats, a new customer knowledge portal, advanced case assignment, and order and defect tracking.

HR service management got a major update. It became independent, i.e., HR staff could make changes and improvements without relying on IT staff for development.

2015

ServiceNow Fuji Release

This release unfolded new application launches for testing and financial management.

• The new test management tool in the ServiceNow platform made it quick and efficient to test plans, cases, guiding testers, and processes.
• The financial management app could track and manage IT spending, helping CIOs weigh operational performance against cost for improved cost efficiency.

It rolled out major enhancements in UI 15 related to colors and new icons, transforming the overall look and feel of the platform. Plus, newly developed applications could now be reused by other developers.

ServiceNow Geneva Release

A dedicated space called ‘Studio’ was introduced for developers to handle their apps, whether they downloaded them or created them from scratch. This release made improvements across project management, finance, knowledge sharing, security, and HR departments, improving the ability to build custom apps.

2014

ServiceNow Eureka Release

It focused on enhancing the overall enterprise service through the Service Creator application. It simplified application creation through drag-and-drop components and organized day-to-day tasks in a clear and interactive manner for easy understanding on a visual task board. Further, it automated routine processes like delivery, reporting, and requests, saving time and effort.

2013

ServiceNow Calgary Release

This release introduced a feature-rich, user-friendly, and collaborative workspace and Application Creator Tool that allowed non-technical users to easily create business applications and workflows.

It enabled the utilization of auxiliary databases to support the primary database, eliminating overloading and exceeding storage capacity.

ServiceNow Dublin Release

It included enhancements for the application creator tool and some new application launches:

• Vendor Performance Management: Streamlined vendor categorization for businesses on certain criteria, such as compliance adherence, satisfaction and reliability.
• Configuration Automation: Streamlined data center management by automating infrastructure setup, allowing for simple server configurations and modifications while tracking.

2012

ServiceNow Berlin Release

The Berlin release talked about several enhancements across IT asset management, related repositories in CMDB, and new features related to Software Asset Management (SAM), allowing businesses to manage their inventory and related workflows.

ServiceNow Aspen Release

It covers the launch of new applications:

• ServiceNow Chat: Allows easy communication between IT teams, end users and other business providers, while these chats could be extended to other ServiceNow IT applications.
• ServiceNow Live: Similar to a social media platform but specific for IT teams to share and search information, collaborate, and interact over posts.
• ServiceNow GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance): With this ServiceNow application, IT teams could track and manage compliance with important standards like FedRAMP, COBIT, SOX, ISO 27001, and ITIL, improving overall security.

Additionally, another release rolled out in the same year named ‘June11 release’ introduced several key enhancements to ITSM, enhancing social IT capabilities, new user interfaces, and a runbook automation process to respond to a security threat.

2010

ServiceNow Spring Release

It focused on enhancements in business process automation across multiple departments while introducing new SaaS applications.

• Field Service Management: Optimized resource, inventory and dispatch management for businesses, reducing the time and cost of field service logistics.
• Project and Portfolio Management: Accurate and streamlined planning for project pipelines, effective use of resources, and analyzed project portfolios reduced project risk.
• IT Cost Management: Overall IT financial management for your business automating cost aggregation, allocating expenses across business units, and more, streamlining cost transparency and operational efficiency.
• Service Portfolio Management: Streamlined IT service delivery with executive dashboards, automated tracking, and a user-friendly service catalog, reducing costs and improving service availability.

ServiceNow Fall Release

This release rolled out advancements and upgrades in new applications launched in the previous release, along with security and performance upgrades. The content management system facilitated customization through UI upgrades and several design templates.

2009

ServiceNow Winter Release

This release introduced many new applications for IT service management.

Highlights of the release:

• The enablement of IT service desks for various mobile operating systems to access service requests, problems, and changes on the go, boosting problem resolution.
• Project management via Saas promotes focus on project milestones, organizes complex IT initiatives, and delivers timely project execution.

2008

ServiceNow Summer Release

It was the 14th ServiceNow release in three years since its launch in 2004.

This release focused on graphical workflow factors, simplifying the complexity of workflow creation through drag-and-drop options. These workflows help define how Service Level Agreements work, track and enforce service promises for each client separately, or combine them to monitor everything at once.

Upcoming Release

Looking ahead, the ServiceNow releases roadmap indicates that Yokohama release in late Q1 2025 will introduce new functionalities, upgrades, and fixes to enhance platform efficiency.

This release is predicted to focus on core platform updates, ensuring improved performance, security, and user experience across various business functions.

It will talk about:

• Access controls, work assignments, and agent chat that will improve security, task allocation, and support.
• The AI search and analytics hub will enable faster insights.
• Enhancements in asset management, audit history, authentication, and case management will boost tracking, compliance, and efficiency.
• Cloud encryption and governance updates will strengthen security and CMDB.
• Contract management and CSM will enhance asset visibility and service workflows.
• Data management and document services will support scalability and translation.
• Overall security will improve with encryption support and event management.
• Field service, flow engine, and incident management will enhance automation and execution.
• User experience will improve with guided tours, integration hub upgrades, and knowledge management enhancements.

After the Yokohama release, the next ServiceNow release, Zurich, will roll out by Q4 of 2025, with features that extend the ServiceNow capabilities like never before.

Conclusion

ServiceNow’s evolution through its releases has consistently enhanced automation, security, and efficiency for businesses, exceeding the capabilities of ServiceNow and its products over the years.

Each update is built upon the last, making the platform more powerful and adaptable. With the Yokohama release arriving in late Q1 2025, followed by the Zurich release, ServiceNow continues to push the boundaries of innovation.

Do you need assistance to migrate your current system to advanced upgrades? As a ServiceNow partner, Cyntexa offers ServiceNow consulting services enabling organizations to seamlessly migrate, optimize workflows, and maximize platform efficiency.

We will help you deploy the best features from upcoming releases that meet your business’s evolving needs. Staying updated with these advancements will help you maximize your digital transformation journey and stay ahead in an ever-evolving tech landscape.