How to Automate ServiceNow Reporting and Analytics

Organizations that automate ServiceNow data reporting and analytics benefit from a more comprehensive understanding of their enterprise.

To automate ServiceNow data reporting and analytics, organizations need the capability to extract and replicate data between applications via data and process integration. 

Transferring data to the right place at the right time is key to seamless app synchronization.

ServiceNow Data Extraction for Analytics and Reporting

As a ServiceNow client, you may wish to:

• Design Tableau reports based on your ServiceNow data 
• Gather and visualize temporal views of ServiceNow data
• Merge ServiceNow data with other enterprise app data for more holistic reporting
• Run external analysis on ServiceNow data

Performing such tasks demands that your ServiceNow data can be transformed into the required format as it moves between applications. However, the ServiceNow platform is notoriously difficult to extract data from. 

You can choose between two options for ServiceNow reporting and analytics:

• Using the inbuilt capabilities of Performance Analytics in ServiceNow (however, users often find the capabilities limited, and there is no way to analyze ServiceNow data in context with other enterprise application data ) 
• Extracting ServiceNow data into an external repository (data warehouse) and using your preferred tool to obtain the necessary insights.

For many enterprises the latter approach is necessary, as they want to analyze data in context with the wider enterprise. 

However, this approach requires integration, and the consideration of serious challenges such as:

• The volume of data and extracting it without impacting ServiceNow’s performance
• Accurately configuring the external database for data migration and reporting
• Extracting and replicating data on time, for up-to-date analysis
• The resilience of your integration solution and avoiding downtime
• On-going maintenance of the integration solution to prevent the integration and integrated solutions from becoming technical debt.
• Privacy, security and data ownership
• The total cost of the integration project

Not all types of integration are made equal, and consideration of the above challenges helps an organization choose the right approach for their requirements.

Types of Integration for ServiceNow to Database Data Extraction and Replication

To automate ServiceNow reporting and analytics by extracting and replicating ServiceNow data to an external database, organizations have a number of options:

• Manual/swivel-chair integration
• DIY integration
• ETL tools
• Integration Platforms-as-a-Service (iPaaS)
• Integration as a Service

However, four out of the five options are insufficient in addressing all of the concerns listed above. 

Integration Types and Their Limitations

Manual/swivel-chair integration involves an employee, manually copying data from the source system, to the target system. This integration approach is insecure, a breeding ground for human error, and is unscalable as data volumes grow. 

DIY integration is when an organization builds their own integration solution in-house. However, integrations require significant internal resources to implement, and further resources to maintain over time. For example, updates to an integrated system can break the integration.

The code supporting the integration needs to be re-written. This can also make continuity difficult if the developer responsible for implementation/maintenance of the integration solution leaves the organization. 

Extract Transform and Load (ETL) tools are an older method of integration. Many modern, data-driven organizations avoid this integration approach due to its security flaws and modern, data governance and regulatory compliance requirements.

With ETL tool based integrations, encryption is not provided and data can be exposed to system administrators in system logs.

Integration Platforms as a Service (iPaaS) are integration platforms built and provided by an external vendor. This approach means organizations initially benefit from the expertise of the vendor. Many providers have options for encryption to keep data secure.

However, iPaaS providers are not obliged to provide maintenance for the platform once sold. Therefore, considerable external resources are still required to maintain the solution over time. Additionally, most providers leverage API calls to facilitate the integration. These API calls impact ServiceNow performance as they use the same bandwidth that ServiceNow needs to execute queries.

Avoiding the Limitations of Typical Integration Solutions

Integration as a Service (IaaS) solutions are similar to iPaaS solutions, in that organizations can benefit from the expertise, security and privacy provided by expert integration solutions.

However, with an IaaS solution, the organization is purchasing the integration itself as a service. This means everything from implementation, to maintenance, to support is handled by the vendor. 

With the right IaaS solution, organizations can even avoid the pitfalls of ServiceNow performance degradation, by avoiding the use of API calls to facilitate data extraction and replication.

Automate ServiceNow Reporting and Analytics, without Impacting Performance

Perspectium is a tried and tested integration service provider and solution for ServiceNow data extraction and replication.

Created by David Loo, a founding developer at ServiceNow, the Perspectium application works natively within ServiceNow, and extracts and replicates data without impacting ServiceNow performance.

Instead of leveraging API calls to facilitate the integration, Perspectium uses push technology and a message broker system to connect ServiceNow to other systems and applications.

The solution pushes data to the message broker system, queuing data into the repository. ServiceNow data is then replicated securely, by pulling it from the queue into your database systems for warehousing and analytics. 

Seamless Integration for ServiceNow to Reporting and Analytics Tools

Perspectium integrates your ServiceNow data seamlessly with reporting and analytics tools. You can extract your business data to a data repository either as batch updates or dynamic sharing. 

By leveraging Perspectium to connect ServiceNow to advanced analytics and reporting tools, business leaders can better prepare for the present and future. They can:

• Anticipate industry trends

You can track and evaluate both past and current performance metrics to identify the key improvement areas. Also, dashboards and analytics reports help you detect service bottlenecks and take the necessary steps to eliminate such possibilities. 

• Prioritize business needs 

Data analytics reports offer clarity on internal operations, helping you understand business priorities. Accordingly, you can prioritize the requirements, adjusting service coverage and resources to the critical areas 

• Drive service improvement 

Fuel continual service improvement by taking timely action on KPIs using DataSync and ServiceInsight dashboards and forecasts. 

• Progress confidently 

Align internal teams and services/operations with your business strategy and use data-driven tactics to move forward with confidence.

Perspectium DataSync

Perspectium’s DataSync solution is the most reliable and secure way to extract ServiceNow data into pre-configured BI views with no noticeable impact to ServiceNow’s performance – all from within a native ServiceNow app.

Businesses using Perspectium DataSync can reap numerous benefits, including –  

• Move massive volumes of data to repositories with high throughput and minimal performance impact.
• Get comprehensive ServiceNow insights and enhanced visibility of ITSM, CSM, HR, ITOM & ITAM processes.
• Synchronize ServiceNow data with enterprise app data for business process automation, performance analytics, and reporting.
• Share business intelligence across teams to help companies manage and manipulate their own ServiceNow data and reports.

Perspectium helped Virteva overcome their reporting challenges. With Perspectium, Virteva was able to extract ServiceNow data – including SLA, Metric and Ticket data – to a SQL database to perform advanced reporting and analytics in near-real-time.

Perspectium guarantees high availability and scalability to solve enterprise integration and analytics/reporting challenges while ensuring high scalability and availability. 

Our data extraction and replication solutions are designed for quick and accurate data analysis and reporting for various business needs.

The highly responsive interface lets ServiceNow clients analyze performance trends to drive better and smarter decisions.

ServiceInsight includes pre-configured data extracts, visualization dashboards, and Tableau workbooks that offer in-depth insight into your ITSM, CSM, ITOM, and ITAM processes.