How to Extract ServiceNow Data

Organizations extract ServiceNow data to a number of different targets, supporting various use cases. Extracting ServiceNow data gives organizations more control over how the data is used, stored and accessed.

For example, organizations can extract ServiceNow data, and replicate it to softwares supporting operational improvement such as business intelligence, analytics, and machine learning solutions. 

Alternatively, organizations can extract ServiceNow data to support data management initiatives such data lake building and archiving, supporting greater operational resilience and efficiency. 

This post will cover both how to extract ServiceNow data and why organizations benefit from doing so.

Jump to:

• Why Extract ServiceNow Data?
• How to Extract ServiceNow Data
• Extracting ServiceNow Data without Impacting Performance

Why Extract ServiceNow Data?

As a rich source of insightful information, organizations extract ServiceNow Data to support various use cases around the enterprise, including:

1. Data Lake Building and Archiving

While ServiceNow backs up and retains data for 28 days, many organizations require more robust capabilities for archiving.

This could be due to compliance requirements (for example patient records in the healthcare sector) or to preserve the performance of ServiceNow while retaining old data.

In such cases, building a data lake through bulk data transfer is a great way to back up and archive data for future use. 

2. Improve transparency to visualize the big picture

Extracting ServiceNow data allows organizations to combine the data with other sources, helping to paint a complete view of the business. This can support the organization in both data and process management.

Firstly, data extracted from the platform can be more easily accessed by approved stakeholders. In this case, neither a ServiceNow license, or experience using the ServiceNow platform is required to access, explore and analyze the data.

Secondly, extracting data from the ServiceNow platform allows information supporting ServiceNow Workflows to be automatically transferred to other solutions to create inter-application workflows. Integrations supporting this use case are often refered to as eBonding.

As well as allowing employees to complete tasks using the software they are most practiced in, eBonding allowsbusiness leaders, employees and other stakeholders to have visibility into the status of tasks, even as the task moves between systems.

For example, if a customer query is recorded in ServiceNow, but DevOps’ input is required to complete the task, the workflow that originated in ServiceNow can be automatically passed to Azure DevOps (and/or other solutions), and its status can be monitored from either platform.

3. Preserve ServiceNow performance

Large volumes of data in ServiceNow can affect the platform’s performance, slowing down queries, delaying reports and impacting operations throughout the enterprise.

By extracting ServiceNow data and replicating it to an external database, organizations can alleviate this strain on the database.

This is particularly useful for organizations with extensive reporting requirements. Querying the ServiceNow platform directly to extract large amounts of ServiceNow data puts considerable strain on the platform.

Performance impacts can be so severe that organizations sacrifice their need for real-time and relevant data insight, instead opting to start reports outside of operational hours with the hope that they are completed by the time operational hours resume.

4. Analytics

Analytics and Predictive Analytics solutions help organizations identify trends to drive informed decision-making. Organizations can feed ServiceNow data into data analytics tools to gain in-depth insight into their internal processes, identify weak links, etc., and take the necessary remediation measures.

With Predictive Analytics, the higher the throughput, the faster organizations can feed data into the platform, meaning the insights generated can be optimized more quickly.

5. AI and ML

AI and ML solutions can also leverage ServiceNow data to automate routine manual operations, minimize the scope for manual errors, and optimize workforce productivity.

As with Predicitvie Analytics, these solutions benefit from high data-throughput as they are optimized over time as they consume more data.

6. Business Intelligence 

BI teams of almost every organization are familiar with the best-of-breed tools – such as Tableau or Power BI.

By extracting ServiceNow data via automated integration solutions, organizations can easily feed data from ServiceNow, into their preferred BI tools.

8. Advanced ServiceNow reporting

ServiceNow reports offer useful insight into ServiceNow applications and features. However, they are limited compared to the capabilities of best-in-class reporting solutions, and they can only generate reports on ServiceNow data.

Extracting ServiceNow data and replicating it to an external database means that organizations can use their preferred reporting solution, and combine ServiceNow data with other sources for more comprehensive and detailed reports.

How to Extract ServiceNow Data

As a solution supporting various functions within the enterprise, many employees and stakeholders throughout a given organization, from IT staff to C-suite executives, benefit from access to ServiceNow data. 

However, ServiceNow is a notoriously difficult solution to extract data from, making secure, truly self-service access impossible with ServiceNow’s out-of-the-box functionality.

By integrating ServiceNow with an external database, organizations can democratize ServiceNow data’s use and access. 

Not All Integrations Are Made Equal: Be Aware of the Limitations

While there are a number of integration methods available, not all of them will suit a given organization’s requirements. 

For example, custom web services/API-based integrations – delivered as packaged solutions (iPaaS) or built in-house – are a popular approach, offering considerable flexibility in integration targets. 

• See also: Why You Should Avoid Web Services and API ServiceNow Integrations

However, these integrations are unsuitable for large and growing data volumes as extracting large data volumes negatively impacts ServiceNow’s performance. 

They are also difficult to maintain, requiring significant resources that can disrupt operations if undertaken internally. 

If any of the following web-services/API integration associated risks are a concern, then organizations should evaluate other options:

• Performance issues: Web-services/API integrations cause ServiceNow performance degradation when handling large data volumes. To avoid interruptions, organizations are forced into scheduling data transfers outside of operational hours impacting the relevancy and quality of data and insights. Because of this performance degradation also prevents real-time data insight.
  
• Integration failure and maintenance: Web-services/API integrations often break when the organization updates ServiceNow, or the integration developer(s) leave the business, taking their knowledge of how to maintain the integration with them.
  
• Data loss: Web-services/API integrations can cause data loss as the approach is not designed to handle outages. 
  
• Security concerns: Web services/API integrations may introduce security risks to the platform, including data breaches, unauthorized access, and information theft.
  
• Data quality: Poorly built/implemented web-services and API integrations can cause inconsistencies, errors, and other data quality issues. If ServiceNow receives incomplete or inaccurate data from an external service, it can negatively impact business decisions based on that data.
  
• Compatibility: Web services and APIs are typically developed by third-party vendors with varying standards and protocols. Implementing such integrations may result in compatibility issues – particularly when updating the platform – which can cause integration failure or data corruption.

Fortunately, organizations can enjoy the benefits of web-services/API integrations without the drawbacks, by opting for ServiceNow-native, performance impact-free integrations. 

ServiceNow-Native Integrations: Extract ServiceNow Data without Impacting Performance

When installed natively within ServiceNow, organizations don’t have to rely on performance degrading web-services/API calls to extract ServiceNow data. 

Instead, ServiceNow-native integrations can leverage more efficient technology such as “Push” technology, allowing them to extract massive amounts of ServiceNow data without degrading performance. 

Perspectium is an official ServiceNow integration partner, providing and maintaining ServiceNow-native integration applications as-a-service. Perspectium integrations leverage “Push” technology to extract and replicate ServiceNow data, via a cloud-enabled Message Broker System (MBS).

This means that with Perspectium, extracted ServiceNow data is replicated and pushed into a queue in the Message Broker System. The target system then retrieves the data from the MBS, rather than directly from ServiceNow itself. 

As well as preserving performance, this also safeguards organizations against data loss in the event of an outage at a target system. Instead of the data transfer failing outright and losing said data, the data instead waits securely (via encryption) in the queue until the target system is back online.

Supported integration targets include many of the leading data repositories, meaning that via integrations to the repository, Perspectium users can create end-to-end integrations from ServiceNow, to a wide array of solutions that can use the data including:

• Business Intelligence
• Artificial Intelligence
• Machine Learning
• Reporting and Analysis
• Predictive Analytics

With Perspectium installed directly onto the ServiceNow platform, organizations can avoid inefficient integration approaches and extract massive data volumes, all while maintaining ServiceNow’s performance.

Avoiding performance degradation is crucial for enabling real-time data insight and availability. It’s also crucial for supporting data-intensive solutions such as predictive analytics/analysis, AI and ML tools. 

Such solutions are optimized over time as they consume more data. Thus, the higher the throughput, the more well optimized those solutions can be – making Perspectium a service that enterprise-scale organizations with such requirements must evaluate.

The Benefits of ServiceNow-Native Integrations

With Perspectium, organizations enjoy the following benefits:

• Avoid performance issues: Preserve ServiceNow’s performance and enable real-time insight, with Perspectium’s efficient “Push” technology integrations.

• Prevent Integration failure and data loss: By subverting performance degrading web-services and API integrations, organizations can maintain ServiceNow performance, reducing the likelihood of an outage in the ServiceNow platform. The Message Broker System ensures data is preserved, even through outages at the target system.
  
• No internal maintenance requirements: Perspectium integrations are delivered as a managed service, meaning we handle all of the busy work from implementation to maintenance, providing 24/7, 365 support for the integrations. Organizations are also protected against knowledge loss due to employees responsible for the integration leaving.
  
• Secure data transfers: Installed natively within ServiceNow, Perspectium benefits inherently from ServiceNow’s own security features and commitments. Perspectium integrations also benefit from additional security features such as obfuscation and encryption capabilities that protect data at-rest and in-transit.
  
• Improved data quality: Perspectium users benefit from the expertise of trusted ServiceNow integration partners. As well as being ServiceNow partners, Perspectium is also integration service provider to ServiceNow, so organizations can trust the quality of integrations and integrated data.
  
• Compatibility: As an official ServiceNow partner, Perspectium works with ServiceNow to ensure our integrations are compatible with new ServiceNow releases to support greater operational resilience.

Want to learn more about Perspectium’s performance impact-free, ServiceNow-native integrations? Talk to a ServiceNow integration expert today.