I have been working in Pega Cloud for many years and have been a part of several new and migration projects.  I have worked with many different configurations and environments across Cloud 2 and Cloud 3.

Recently, someone asked about adding new Sandboxes within an existing configuration that had several different environments.  Before I could answer, I had to stop and ask myself, how do I explain what exactly is in a Pega Cloud RTL?

I spoke to a number of colleagues and consulted my favorite Generative AI Tools, and they came back with the following definition:

A Route to Live (RTL) is a Pega Cloud, industry-standard CI/CD DevOps pipeline that rapidly takes applications from Blueprint collaboration to production.

Now this definition is essentially correct, but there are some nuances that I want to share.

A Route to Live can include different types for environments.  A Sandbox can refer to any non-Production environment within a Route to Live.

Standard Sandboxes support development and testing with App Studio or Dev Studio.  Large Sandboxes are for more extensive work including higher volume development, UAT and pre-production staging. Production supports the production deployment of Pega solutions. Production Mirror environments for performance and/or load testing at production-level volumes.  

A standard Route to Live will include the following environments:

• Development, referred to as DT1
• Staging, referred to as STG1
• Production, referred to as PROD1

Note: Pega Deployment Manager as a Service is also a part of your Pega Cloud Route to Live.

If needed, a Pega Cloud Route to Live can have additional Sandboxes added to the configuration, however it must have at least one Development region, one Staging region and one Production region.

In the above example, this Pega Cloud RTL has 2 Large Sandboxes and a Production environment.  A Sandbox can refer to either the Development region (DT1) or the UAT region (STG1).

If additional scale is needed, or to support training or extended development teams, additional Sandboxes can be added to a Route to Live.  This creates a more flexible architecture that can be used for larger teams with more complex needs.

In the above example, an additional Large Sandbox has been added to the Route to Live to support Training.

Establishing a prescriptive Route to Live helps organizations efficiently manage their Pega Cloud assets, lower costs, and improve delivery outcomes.  Always ensure that you are following best practices for your Software Development Life Cycle so that you can consistently deliver high quality applications in a flexible and scalable manner.

For additional information refer to the following documentation links: https://docs.pega.com/bundle/pega-cloud/page/pega-cloud/pc/learning-about/understanding-subscription-provisioning.html