ServiceNow
ServiceNow provides a service model that defines, structures, and automates various workflows, removing email and spreadsheets from the process to streamline the delivery of services. It replaces manual transactions with a service experience designed for everyone in the enterprise. Built to manage everything as a service, ServiceNow places a service-oriented lens on the activities, tasks, and processes that is part of the day-to-day work life.
ServiceNow enables enterprise service domains to define services, provide an intuitive service experience, deliver service, assure service availability, and analyze critical service metrics. The ServiceNow platform includes the following features:
• Application Development: Build, test and publish applications that can span from a single department to an entire enterprise. Since less or no coding is required, almost anyone can build business applications for every line of business.
• Field Service Management: Makes field service management simple by replacing spreadsheets, email and other management tools with a single system.
• Finance Service Management: Fulfil submitted requests including financial reports, procurement and payroll issues; gain visibility into work requests and trends over time.
• HR Service Management: Create a system of engagement that works in tandem with existing applications for core HR, talent, and workforce management. (Learn how why effective is ServiceNow implementation for HR service Management.)
• IT Service Management: ITSM consolidates and automates service management processes, increase efficiency, lower costs-and devote more time to creating the consumer-like self-service experience that users expect.
• Security Operations: Systematically manage security incidents, prioritize vulnerabilities, visualize the effectiveness of security investments, and adapt to changing conditions.
Prerequisites
• User ID and password to access the ServiceNow application.
• You must have appropriate security permissions for the tables with which the connector will interact. This includes:
• Table that the user configures within the connector.
• Specific system tables that the connector uses to obtain table metadata:
– sys_db_object: Used to collect table-level metadata such as inheritance.
– sys_dictionary: Used to collect field-level metadata including name, alias, length, data type, and so on.
– sys_glide_object: Used to collect information about data types including names, base types, and so on.
• Name of the ServiceNow instance.
• Understand the ServiceNow tables with which you will interact.
• Internet access.
The connector utilizes the ServiceNow Platform's REST Table API in order.
Connector Parts
Connector parts are the fields you configure to connect with a data source or target.
The settings that are available depend on the connector you select.
For a list of all parts for source connectors, see
Specifying Connector, Parts, and Properties.
For a list of all parts for target connectors, see
Specifying Connector, Parts, and Properties.
Connector Properties
You can set the following source (S) and target (T) properties.
Field Requirements
Many fields within ServiceNow have limitations or restrictions. Within Map Designer, visual indicators and tool tips are provided to help identify which fields have specific requirements. For example, when mapping data from a source to a ServiceNow target, the Target Field Expression cells on the Mapping tab will be gray if the field is either not updateable, or not creatable and cannot be mapped, and red if the field is required and must be mapped. A cell without color indicates there are no limitations or requirements from ServiceNow. These fields can be mapped if desired.
Target Output Modes
• Insert
• Delete
• Update
• Upsert
Supported Data Types
ServiceNow fields can be any of the 150 defined types, but all of them are derived from a set of scalar types (with the exception of complex fields). The ServiceNow connector exposes all types as one of the following basic types:
• STRING
• FLOAT
• INTEGER
• LONG
• DECIMAL
• DATE
• DATETIME
• TIME
• BOOLEAN
• GUID - Globally Unique Identifier (handled as a 32-bit character string)
Performance Notes
Dynamic queries against multiple ServiceNow system tables are performed to build the source schema for the map during design (when you connect to a chosen table). Since this operation is very expensive and time-consuming, the connector is configured such that the engine provides the source schema to the connector during execution.
The connector primarily uses the ServiceNow REST Table API to perform various CRUD operations. This API is efficient for read operations, but it is not designed to handle multi-record update operations. This means that inserts, updates, or deletes must be sent one record at a time to ServiceNow instances. This results in very slow performance. The connector attempts to overcome this by using the SOAP table API when possible. The SOAP API is used:
• If the administrator of the ServiceNow instance has installed the Insert Multiple Web Service plug-in, the connector sends multiple records in a single request to ServiceNow. The number of records sent is defined by the Multiple Records Max Size property.
• To delete multiple records in the target table based data mapped to key fields in the target table.
All update operations are performed one record at a time if the "sys_id" field is mapped. If other key fields are mapped instead of sys_id, then an additional query must be performed in order to obtain the sys_id field of all records to be updated.
Limitations
Table-level operations (create, drop, clear, and create index) are not supported due to lack of client-side API support.
Operators
N/A