Over the past few weeks, you've shared a lot of feedback about the new Self-Service Portal in this community, via the feedback button, and through TIP. Some of it has been positive. A fair amount has been critical. And most of the critical feedback points to the same thing: the new SSP feels less controllable than the old one, and we didn't explain why clearly enough before you found out for yourself.
I want to fix that now.
Why we shipped when we did
We made a deliberate choice to release the new SSP early and in parts, rather than waiting until everything was finished.
The reason is straightforward: a full rebuild takes time, and if we wait until every detail is done, you wait too. Shipping in parts means you get new capabilities sooner. AI Search (available from the Engaged package onwards) is only possible in the new SSP. If we'd held the new SSP back until the designer was fully rebuilt, AI Search would have been held back with it.
That's the trade-off we made, and we stand by it. But we realized that we should have been more upfront about what it meant in practice.
What the trade-off looks like today
The way the new SSP can be visually customized needs to be improved. Right now, you're configuring the new SSP through the older designer, which means customization is more limited than you're used to. Tile layout, logo size, background colors: these aren't fully in your hands today, and we know that's frustrating.
We're not pretending otherwise.
Some pages, the booking module, certain forms, still redirect to the classic SSP while we continue rebuilding. This is intentional: we'd rather those pages fall back to something that works than leave your users stranded.
None of this is the end state. But it is the current state, and you deserve a straight answer on that.
Not sure whether to switch yet? Start with the Update Guide
Before you make any decisions, the Update Guide is the most useful thing I can point you to. It gives you a clear, up-to-date picture of what's ready, what isn't, what to prepare before switching, and how to assess whether now is the right time for your organization. A lot of the frustration we've seen in the community (blurry images, unexpected layouts, missing options) could have been avoided by going through the guide first. It's kept up to date as the new SSP evolves, so it's always the most accurate reflection of where things stand.
What your end users get right now
While the extent of the customization capabilities is still developing, the experience for your end users has already genuinely improved. The new SSP gives them:
- A more prominent search bar front and center, the first thing they see
- Quick links above the search bar, so common requests are one click away
- A clearer services overview, so people can find what they need without navigating the way IT has organized things
The goal was always to give employees a portal that feels like the tools they already use and that's what the new design delivers. For most end users, the switch will feel like an upgrade from day one.
What's next
Your feedback is shaping what we build next. Making the new SSP more customizable is something we’re doing some research about so, how far we take it, and in what order, is something we're working out together with customers right now. We're not going to commit to dates we can't stand behind, but we will keep you updated here as things firm up.
Switching is optional and reversible. You're not forced to move, your current setup stays in place, and you can switch back if the new SSP isn't ready for your organization yet. When you're ready to assess, go back to the Update Guide it's the right starting point.
If you have ideas, things you'd like to see changed, or features you're missing please keep submitting them via the feedback button in the new SSP or via TIP. That's not a polite gesture. It's genuinely how we're setting the order of what gets built.
