ServiceNow Edge Encryption was designed to encrypt sensitive data before it entered the ServiceNow cloud, giving organizations full control over keys, data flow and compliance. It acted as a client-side encryption proxy, ensuring raw values were never exposed to the cloud platform.
Now, Edge Encryption has entered end-of-renewal, which means every organization using it must select a replacement. The key question becomes clear:
What is the best alternative to ServiceNow Edge Encryption?
ServiceNow directs customers toward Platform Encryption, a native control that protects data inside ServiceNow after ingestion. However, it does not replicate the original client-side network edge model that Edge Encryption provided. For customers dealing with sensitive and regulated data, that difference is significant.
Edge Encryption once kept data protected before entering the cloud. With its retirement, that function must come from another solution. So where?
Platform Encryption is capable and useful, but it is in-platform encryption, not client-side encryption. For compliance-focused organizations, this introduces control and sovereignty issues.
Data enters ServiceNow in plaintext before encryption is applied.
Encryption keys and cryptographic operations occur inside the ServiceNow platform.
Compliance frameworks often require customer-controlled boundaries.
Data sovereignty and encryption processes are vendor-dependent.
Industries handling CUI, ITAR-controlled data, PHI, PII, or cross-border regulated workloads often require end-to-end encryption that occurs before cloud ingestion to maintain secure control and audit provability.
This was the core function Edge Encryption (customer network "edge") once provided. Now that it is retiring, organizations must look elsewhere to preserve this security and data protection model.
The StratoKey Cloud Data Protection Platform restores the client-side edge protection model that Edge Encryption previously provided. It applies encryption or tokenization before data reaches ServiceNow, ensuring sensitive information remains sovereign, controlled, and compliant.
StratoKey is delivered as a self-hosted encryption and tokenization gateway, allowing customers to control keys, storage and data boundaries without outsourcing trust.
Key benefits:
Client-side gateway-based encryption and tokenization ensure ServiceNow never receives sensitive data in plaintext.
Tokenization keeps regulated data stored in sovereign, customer-controlled environments.
Aligns with compliance frameworks, including CMMC, ITAR, HIPAA, and GDPR.
Integrates seamlessly with ServiceNow workflows, Discovery, APIs, and modules with no disruption.
Built for scale with high performance, low latency and redundancy in production environments.
This architecture returns control to the customer. ServiceNow never receives sensitive or regulated data in plaintext.
Learn more about hosting your own encryption gateway.