What’s New in AutomatePro 9.3.0: Faster ServiceNow Upgrade Testing and Release Readiness. ServiceNow releases move fast, but upgrade validation still drifts toward spreadsheets and manual regression. However, with $2M per hour high-impact outage costs, platform owners need upgrade readiness evidence, not optimism. ServiceNow best practice requires testing existing functionality + integrations and new upgrade features which demands repeatable regression packs, not spot checks.
Why We are Excited!
Platform Owners benefit using AutomatePro 9.3.0 from one governed view of the release lifecycle—visibility, traceability, and control from intake to deploy.
Say goodbye to:
- Disconnected pipelines that hide real status
- Tool sprawl across environments that slows decisions
- Blind spots where defects slip through
- Manual audit stitching that steals weekends
Way bigger than “feature glitter”, AutomatePro 9.0.3 represents customer-built, operator-tested, and designed to fit how you already work.
“It helps with the ways of working on the ServiceNow Platform.”
~ Chris Pope, AutomatePro Chief Product Officer
AutoTest vs ServiceNow ATF for Upgrade Testing
ATF automates individual test steps. However, upgrade readiness still breaks when teams must manually manage scope, evidence, and baseline vs target comparisons.
Where ATF-only upgrade testing stalls
- Rebuild upgrade scope in spreadsheets every cycle
- Depend on SME memory and miss edge cases
- Scatter evidence across screenshots and folders
- Debate “what changed” instead of proving it
Why AutoTest wins for upgrade readiness
AutoTest makes upgrade confidence pack-based, reusable, and report-ready:
- Builds a reusable library (blocks → plans → packs)
- Runs consistently across environments and releases
- Feeds structured results into Upgrade Readiness comparisons
Bottom line: ATF automates steps. AutoTest operationalizes upgrade readiness.
The Powerful AutomatePro Core Platform
AutomatePro’s core platform is the shared foundation behind AutoPlan, AutoTest, AutoDoc, AutoDeploy, and AutoMonitor—so they run as one release assurance lifecycle, not disconnected tools. It delivers:
- One governance model (roles, approvals, traceability)
- One execution layer (engine + reusable libraries)
- One connected flow (plan → test → document → deploy → monitor)
Because AutomatePro is ServiceNow-native, you reduce tool sprawl and scale repeatable delivery across teams and environments.l sprawl. Even better, you create repeatable delivery behavior that scales across teams and environments.
What’s New in AutomatePro 9.3.0
AutomatePro Engine Platform: Cross-Instance Efficiency + Stability
9.3.0 delivers two major wins: faster cross-instance work and better reliability in core workflow behavior. Therefore, distributed delivery teams can move faster without introducing governance drift.
Engine Platform Highlights
- Remote Instance Services — Work with data and execute actions across distributed ServiceNow instances without constant environment switching.
- State + approval stability improvements — Prevent duplicate states, fix transitions, and strengthen approval behavior and history visibility.
Engine Platform Features/Value Statement:
Because approvals and state transitions quietly power governance, these fixes reduce hidden release risk. At the same time, Remote Instance Services improve multi-instance operations and reduce delivery friction.
AutoPlan: Smarter Agile-to-Test-to-Deploy Traceability
AutoPlan is the headline module in 9.3.0. It doesn’t just sync work—it connects planning to execution and proof. Consequently, teams can run ServiceNow release readiness like a system instead of a scramble.
Highlights
- New Agile integrations with ServiceNow Enterprise Agile Planning (EAP) and Jira
- Enhanced Agile Development 2.0 syncing for richer artifacts and metadata
- Flexible cross-instance data syncing without requiring a centralized repository
- Smarter test linking to connect automated/manual/combined test plans to Agile entities
- Deploy from Agile to create AutoDeploy tasks directly from Agile work items
- Automated Change Request creation to standardize governance during deployment workflows
- Visual Pipeline Viewer for real-time workflow and release pipeline visibility
AutoPlan Value:
Instead of “plan over here and deploy over there,” you keep everything aligned. As a result, you reduce handoffs, boost auditability, and increase confidence in every release window.
AutoTest: Faster Onboarding + Better Run Awareness
AutoTest focuses on speed-to-coverage and operational clarity. As a result, teams build automated regression packs faster and coordinate execution more smoothly.
Speed to AutoTest Coverage Highlights
- Downloadable Content Packs in-product to accelerate time-to-value
- Test execution notifications when runs start or complete
- Broad stability improvements across execution, block management, authentication, and manual plans
Contact Packed Value Speed to Regression
Content Packs accelerate adoption because they deliver ready-made, proven regression building blocks on day one—so teams stop starting from scratch and start validating real workflows immediately.
- Finally, reliability improvements reduce false failures and “tool noise,” so upgrade testing produces cleaner signals and faster go/no-go decisions.
- First, Content Packs cut the ramp-up curve by providing prebuilt test plans, reusable blocks, and best-practice patterns you can import in minutes—so you reach meaningful coverage faster.
- Next, they convert setup time into regression time: instead of designing every test, you tailor what’s already there to your instance, roles, and data.
- Then, they standardize how teams test across products, modules, and environments—so results stay consistent and audit-ready.
Notifications reduce status-chasing by alerting teams when runs start and finish, which keeps release windows moving.
Upgrade Readiness using AutoDoc for powerful speed and Guided User Experience
If your stakeholders demand evidence, AutoDoc is your power move. It transforms test execution into audit-ready documentation and upgrade-ready decision support.
AutoDoc Accelerates ServiceNow Upgrade Readiness (Sharper Value Statement)
AutoDoc turns successful test execution into upgrade-ready proof—fast. After your tests pass, you can generate release reports, upgrade readiness reports, FAQs, new-feature demo assets, and stakeholder-ready documentation in under 20 minutes—often faster than it takes to run the regression pack, and dramatically faster than manually writing documents and stitching screenshots.
Instead of treating documentation as a second project, AutoDoc converts test results into:
- Reports (release + executive summaries)
- Technical documents (design + evidence)
- Videos and demos
- User guides and training content
Highlight Upgrade Readiness using AutoDoc features
- Upgrade Readiness Report — Compare baseline vs upgraded test runs/packs and spotlight defects, risk, and impact deltas.
- Style Templates — Standardize branded, executive-ready documentation automatically.
- Improved compatibility + resilience — Generate consistent outputs across versions and even handle broader reporting scenarios with fewer failures.
Why it matters
You stop saying, “We think it’s fine.”
Instead, you say, “Here’s the baseline. Here’s the upgraded result. Here’s the exact delta—and the defects to prioritize.”
AutoDeploy: Governance-Driven Automation for ServiceNow Release Management
AutoDeploy turns deployments into a controlled, repeatable execution path. Moreover, the tighter Agile connection in 9.3.0 keeps deployments aligned to delivery intent.
What teams use it for
- Automated deployments for update sets, apps, plugins, scripts, XML loads
- Consistent stage-based release flows (Dev → Test → Stage → Prod)
- Automated testing gates that validate changes before promotion
- More consistent governance when automated change requests trigger from workflow
Why it matters
You reduce manual deployment risk and increase consistency across environments. Consequently, release performance improves while firefighting drops.
AutoMonitor: Continuous Confidence for Regression + Performance
AutoMonitor makes regression and performance health visible over time. Instead of running tests only during release week, you schedule confidence continuously.
Highlights
- Scheduled regression monitoring using test plans and queries
- A visual monitor console that shows outcomes and trend signals
- Performance monitoring patterns (including API response timing)
Why it matters
When you detect drift earlier, you fix issues while they’re smaller. Therefore, upgrades stop becoming crisis events.
AI Capabilities: QuickStart AI vs Summarization vs Text-to-Test
AI only helps when it accelerates real work and preserves governance. AutomatePro’s AI capabilities support three practical outcomes: faster creation, cleaner documentation, and scalable reuse.
QuickStart AI (fast creation)
- Use it when you need rapid “first draft” automation coverage.
Summarization (cleaner library)
- Use it when your test plans and blocks need consistent descriptions and easier governance.
Text-to-Test (reuse at scale)
- Use it when you already have solid reusable blocks and want AI to assemble new tests quickly and consistently.
Together, these options help teams scale automated regression testing without turning quality into chaos.
Regression Testing Best Practices
To upgrade faster and safer, treat regression as a reuseable upgrade and clone down readiness asset—not a project task.
Innovation begins with Scaled Regression Strategey
- Build a tiered regression strategy: smoke pack (daily) + release pack (per sprint) + upgrade pack (baseline vs target).
- Design for reuse: modular blocks, parameterized steps, stable naming.
- Stabilize test data: predictable personas, known records, controlled states.
- Run baselines before change: baseline outcomes make upgrade comparisons meaningful.
- Automate evidence by default: standardized reports reduce audit burden.
- Track outcomes: change failure rate, rework, escaped defects, deployment stability.
Quick Steps for Getting Started
- Import content packs and establish baseline coverage
- Build reusable blocks for your most critical workflows
- Assemble regression packs aligned to business risk
- Link tests to Agile work items for traceability
- Gate deployments with automated testing
- Schedule monitors for continuous confidence
- Generate Upgrade Readiness Reports before go/no-go decisions
FAQs
What should I test during a ServiceNow clone down, and ServiceNow upgrade?
Test what breaks trust fastest:
- Critical business workflows (incidents, requests, approvals, fulfillment)
- Integrations + inbound/outbound data flows (SSO, APIs, MID, email)
- Role-based access (who can see/do what after the clone/upgrade)
- High-risk customizations (flows, BRs, UI policies, catalog, workspaces)
Value: You catch failures that block users, expose data, or break automation—then you prove readiness by comparing baseline vs target results.
How do I build a ServiceNow regression test pack?
Build it like an asset, not a spreadsheet:
- Start with top user journeys (most used + highest risk)
- Create reusable blocks (login, search, create, approve, fulfill)
- Stabilize test data + personas so runs stay consistent
- Schedule runs and keep the library current
Value: Write once, run anywhere. A maintained regression library becomes your fastest path to release confidence, clone validation, and upgrade readiness.
Is ServiceNow ATF enough for upgrade testing?
ATF is a solid starting point for ServiceNow test automation. However, ServiceNow upgrade testing demands more than step execution—because readiness requires repeatable scope, provable evidence, and clear comparisons.
To scale upgrade readiness, add:
- Pack-based regression test management for repeatable coverage
- Reusable test libraries to cut maintenance and expand scope
- Automated test evidence for audit-ready output (no screenshot stitching)
- Baseline vs target comparison reporting for a fast go/no-go decision
Value: ATF automates steps. A modern DevOps test management approach delivers traceability, evidence, and measurable release readiness—so upgrades move faster with less risk.
AutomatePro Unique Value Proposition
“AutomatePro isn’t a tool cost—it’s how we stop paying the manual release tax every sprint and start proving release readiness with reusable regression and automated evidence.” Every release you delay is another cycle of manual work you’ll never get back—and another chance for a preventable issue to reach production.
A quick example (illustrative math)
- If manual upgrade/regression takes 60–120 hours per release,
- and you release monthly,
- you’re spending 720–1,440 hours a year on repeat work.
AutomatePro doesn’t just “run tests.” It reduces the repeat work by turning it into reusable packs + automated evidence. Track these before vs after:
- Regression effort per release (hours)
- Time to produce audit evidence (hours/days)
- Escaped defects after release (# and severity)
- Change failure rate / rework rate (trend)
- Upgrade readiness cycle time (baseline → go/no-go)
1) Cost profile
| Approach | License cost | Labor cost per release | Hidden cost drivers | Cost pattern over time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manual testing | $0 | Highest | SME time, screenshot/evidence capture, rework, war rooms, repeated planning | Increases as scope grows |
| ServiceNow ATF (ATF-only) | Low / often already entitled (varies by subscription) | Medium–High | Test data upkeep, scripting/maintenance, pack coordination, evidence stitching, upgrade comparison still manual | Can plateau, then climbs with complexity |
| AutomatePro | Paid | Lowest (at scale) | Upfront setup + governance (library + packs) | Decreases as reuse grows |
2) Value outcomes
| Outcome | Manual testing | ATF-only | AutomatePro (unique value) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed to regression coverage | Slow | Medium | Fast (content packs + reusable blocks + pack execution) |
| Repeatable regression packs | Manual spreadsheets | Partial | Built-in (library → plans → packs + scheduling/monitoring) |
| Traceability (work → test → release) | Weak | Limited | Strong (links across planning, testing, releases) |
| Audit-ready evidence | Manual screenshots/docs | Mostly manual | Automated (reports, user guides, release/upgrade artifacts) |
| Baseline vs target upgrade comparisons | Manual | Manual | Native (upgrade readiness reporting + deltas) |
| Deployment validation gates | Manual checks | Custom build | Integrated (deploy workflows + test gates + governance) |
| Continuous confidence (monitoring) | Rare | Limited | Built-in (scheduled runs + health signals) |
| Cross-team scalability | Poor | Medium | High (reuse + governance + standardization) |
Conclusion
AutomatePro 9.3.0 improves ServiceNow upgrade testing and release readiness by connecting the full lifecycle—planning, testing, documentation, deployment, monitoring, and AI acceleration. As a result, you reduce manual chaos, increase traceability, and ship changes with confidence you can prove.
Other What’s new in AutomatePro
- 9.3: Smarter, Faster, Easier ServiceNow Deployments : AutomatePro
- AutomatePro Archives – Dawn Christine Simmons
- AutomatePro to Modernize ServiceNow Testing
- Barclays Reduced ServiceNow Testing Effort by 99%
- CI/CD AutomatePro versus ServiceNow
- Innovate Today For Better Work Tomorrow
- Rentokil uses AutomatePro to stay current on ServiceNow Upgrades
- ServiceNow Upgrade Testing Guidance
