ServiceNow is a cloud-based platform that streamlines IT service management, operations, and workflows across enterprise systems. Many organizations that use ArcGIS are also ServiceNow users, for a wide variety of workflows. As a key enterprise business system, many organizations want to integrate workflows and data between ArcGIS and ServiceNow, through a variety of patterns. The options presented below provide some guidance on how to think about ArcGIS and ServiceNow integration patterns, whether there are standard solutions available or concepts or approaches to recommend.
ServiceNow administrators and designers can build a wide variety of UI components to accomplish their workflows. One integration pattern that may be successful is to use HTML <iframe> components to embed an ArcGIS web application, either a configurable app such as an ArcGIS Experience Builder application, or a custom application built with the ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript. These applications often support URL parameters, which can be dynamically defined in the ServiceNow interface, so that when the map loads it is pre-configured for a certain location or area of interest, or displaying a specific feature or asset on the map.
Another integration pattern for accessing ArcGIS content from ServiceNow is to use the ServiceNow Integration Hub capability to either send a REST message based on a ServiceNow action or query a remote REST service to return data that can be used to add to or enrich ServiceNow records. This pattern could be used to query an ArcGIS geocoding service or a feature layer for spatial context information, storing attribution or geometry with the ServiceNow object after the REST response is received.
Users that primarily work in ArcGIS may also have workflows that would benefit from ServiceNow data or attribution. Various patterns exist to enable ArcGIS interfaces with ServiceNow data, such as those which are provided.
A custom data feed could be developed to provide direct feature layer access to specific ServiceNow datasets. Depending on the complexity of the ServiceNow assets or records, multiple layers could be configured, and editing could be supported with sufficient planning and development investment.
A Maps SDK for JavaScript custom application or another application built with an ArcGIS Maps SDK such as an ArcGIS Pro plugin data source could create a custom layer that queries a ServiceNow dataset or endpoint. This query could also result in data that can be added to a popup or interface within the application.
A Python-based ETL can be authored to query from ServiceNow using the ServiceNow Python API, which can help with authentication and developer productivity when accessing ServiceNow APIs. Python code can be run from ArcGIS Pro or as part of an automated or scheduled process using ArcGIS Notebooks in ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Notebook Server.
Esri has prepared a demonstration video showing how ServiceNow and ArcGIS Workflow Manager can work together, using REST requests between the systems. The logic flow of this demonstration is as follows:
Upon incident creation in ServiceNow, a request is sent to the Workflow Manager createJob endpoint with a payload containing an Incident ID.
The Workflow Manager job is then designed to query back to ServiceNow for further details on the incident (using a separate REST request) and then proceed through a number of step types, including user actions to verify an incident can be closed.
When the incident is resolved in Workflow Manager, a separate Web Request step sends another request back to ServiceNow to update the incident status to reflect the workflow completion.
This back-and-forth integration pattern highlights the flexibility and power of ArcGIS Workflow Manager, and can be extrapolated or adjusted to a wide variety of integration requirements or situations where ServiceNow and ArcGIS need to work together.
Another example of workflow or app-based integration is the ability to switch between a ServiceNow mobile application and an ArcGIS mobile application such as Field Maps. There are several ways to work with ServiceNow services and experiences on a mobile device, from responsive websites to dedicated native applications.
In any of these scenarios, the use of deep-linking through app-specific URIs allows a user to move from a ServiceNow interface to an ArcGIS mobile application, using feature or asset-specific identifiers to zoom directly to a feature or jump-start an editing workflow. Deep linking is supported with ArcGIS Field Maps and ArcGIS Survey123.