A Strategic Approach to Migration
The move from ServiceNow’s Classic Reporting to the modern Platform Analytics Workspace is on every administrator’s roadmap. ServiceNow is phasing out the classic interface, with the final deprecation planned for the ServiceNow Australia release in 2026. Approached correctly, this migration is more than a technical task; it’s a valuable opportunity to improve your entire analytics foundation.
Instead of a simple “lift and shift,” let’s think about this as a strategic project. You have the chance to clean up years of clutter and build an environment that provides more trust and value to your users.
Insights provided by:
Melanie Selman
ServiceNow Specialist
Specialized in Architecture & Portals
Jonas Schneekloth Løkkegaard
ServiceNow Expert & Team Lead
Specialized in bridging the gap between business & IT
Before You Begin: Strategy and Cleanup
The most important work happens before you even open the Migration Center.
First, this is the perfect moment to establish a clear governance model. You can define ownership for dashboards, define who can certify dashboards and data visualizations and decide on a consistent way to build reports. A little structure here goes a long way in preventing the kind of report sprawl that slows down an instance.
Next comes the cleanup, a step that is optional but strongly recommended. Over the years, any active instance accumulates hundreds of unused or redundant reports. Migrating them only moves the problem.
- Use the Report Statistics and Dashboard Statistics tools to find content that hasn’t been run in over 6 months.
- For these unused dashboards, reports, widgets, a sound approach is either to rename them with an “#Archive” prefix or mark the field ‘Do not migrate in bulk’. This keeps them out of your migration path but allows for easy recovery.
- This is also your chance to implement consistent naming conventions and categorize dashboards by topic to make the new workspace easier to navigate.
Planning this cleanup, which can take weeks or even months, in advance, will make the entire migration process feel less stressful and more controlled.
Executing the Move
Once your strategic and cleanup work is done, you’re ready to use the Platform Analytics Migration Center. You will need to have the Next Experience UI enabled, as it’s a prerequisite for the new workspace.
Partial migration is often the best path forward, as it lets you move content in manageable batches.
Be prepared that some older or custom components may not migrate one-to-one. Things like custom interactive filters, content blocks, and gauges will be moved in compatibility mode (meaning the element will display but cannot be edited in the new builder). Certain report types, such as Control, Funnel, Pyramid, and Geomap, will also be migrated in this compatibility mode. It’s also worth noting that iFrames themselves cannot be migrated.
You’ll want to schedule time to validate your most important dashboards after the migration to ensure everything works as expected.
Ensuring a Smooth Landing for Your Users
A successful project ends with happy users. Your final steps should focus on user adoption.
- Once you’re confident in the new environment, you can deactivate the classic dashboards through system properties. This encourages everyone to start using the new, improved workspace.
- Set Platform Analytics as the new landing page for selected users so they are immediately introduced to the new experience.
- Finally, offer training sessions focused on the benefits for each user group. Show them how much more intuitive the dashboards are.
Business Outcome: By treating this migration as a strategic project, you do more than just update your UI. You deliver a faster, cleaner, and more trusted analytics environment to your business. This builds user confidence and provides a solid foundation for better decision-making for years to come.
Do you need help with your Platform Analytics migration?
Planning and executing a migration can be a significant undertaking. Contact us if your team needs an experienced partner to guide you through the cleanup process, execute a smooth technical migration, and ensure your users are well-prepared to adopt the new workspace.
