Integration Hub Alternative for High Throughput ServiceNow Data Replication

Due to its limitations, many organizations seek an Integration Hub alternative that better aligns with their requirements. 

In the best case scenario, such limitations are recognised before too many development hours are lost to troubleshooting, avoiding a significant technical debt. 

However, some organizations start their journey with the Integration Hub, and find their requirements outpace the capabilities of the solution as their ServiceNow usage and data volumes grow. 

• Related post: What is the ServiceNow Integration Hub?

This post explores the contexts where the ServiceNow Integration Hub is and is not appropriate, and the Integration Hub alternatives for organizations with more robust requirements. 

Table of contents:

1. What Is ServiceNow’s Integration Hub?
2. Who is ServiceNow’s Integration Hub For?
3. ServiceNow Integration Hub Alternatives for Higher Throughput
4. Recommended Integration Solution for High-Throughput

What Is ServiceNow’s Integration Hub? 

The Integration Hub is an API-based, ServiceNow application for integrating ServiceNow with other enterprise solutions via Spokes. 

Pre-built Spokes allow organizations to introduce basic point-to-point connections between ServiceNow and a range of other solutions with little to no coding. 

Organizations with the means to do so can also create their own Spokes to build custom integrations. 

Integration Hub Limitations

While ServiceNow provides the Spoke Generator – a no/low-code, guided solution for creating new Spokes – development experience is recommended. 

Even for simple tasks, custom integrations built via the Integration Hub often require several actions chained together, and can quickly develop in complexity.

Bi-directional (or eBonding) integrations make the process even more difficult as extensive configuration is typically required on both sides of the integration, not just in ServiceNow. 

Throughput is also a significant limitation as the Integration Hub is API-based. Users that need to move large amounts of data often, particularly to multiple end-points, often experience limited throughput and performance issues within ServiceNow.

• Related post: Integration Throughput Explained for ServiceNow Users

Who is ServiceNow’s Integration Hub For?

The Integration Hub and the available pre-built Spokes are capable of handling simple ServiceNow integrations with external systems. They are targeted at providing a one-size-fits-all approach for common requirements. 

However, organizations typically have a combination of unique architectures and processes that means additional development work is required to create a useful, working integration.

And as the Integration Hub is reliant on API to initiate data transfers, it is also subject to the limitations of API integrations including limited throughput.

This makes the Integration Hub most suitable for smaller organizations with limited development resources and basic integration requirements.

ServiceNow Integration Hub Alternatives for Higher Throughput

For organizations with more robust requirements, a number of alternative approaches are available. 

Perspectium’s MBS Integrations

One such Integration Hub alternative, is the solution and service implemented internally within ServiceNow itself – Perspectium.

Unlike typical approaches to integrating ServiceNow, Perspectium’s Message Broker System (MBS) enabled integrations are natively installed within ServiceNow and do not require external API or ETL/web services to initiate data transfer. 

Instead, Perspectium leverages its ServiceNow-native delivery, taking advantage of push technology to replicate ServiceNow data within its MBS. Target systems then retrieve data from the MBS, rather than directly from ServiceNow. 

This results in a far more scalable approach to integrating ServiceNow than what is available from point-to-point, web services integrations.

With data being retrieved from the MBS, organizations can integrate ServiceNow with multiple end-points, and achieve a throughput of over 20 million records per day without impacting ServiceNow’s performance. 

The MBS also prevents data loss, allowing transferred data to be queued, securely within it. This means that if there is an outage or issue with the target system, the transferred data is not lost, and simply waits in the queue until the target can ingest it.

Key differences between Perspectium’s MBS integrations and the Integration Hub:

1. High data availability

Because it lacks a message broker system as an interim between ServiceNow and the target system, the Integration Hub can lead to data loss if ServiceNow or the target system goes down. 

In contrast, Perspectium preserves transferred data in a queue so faced with a similar scenario, data can wait, encrypted in the MBS until the transfer is ready to resume. 

2. High throughput and high performance

Because API utilizes the same data layer as ServiceNow users working on the platform, throughput with the Integration Hub is limited.

More frequent requests and requirements for high volume data transfers impact ServiceNow’s performance and query speeds, slowing down the rate of data transfer and impeding use of the platform.

Perspectium avoids this issue by initiating data transfers via more efficient push technology. As such, it is capable of handling throughput exceeding 20 million records per day.

3. Highly scalable

Organizations that need to integrate ServiceNow with multiple endpoints via the Integration Hub are reliant on multiple point-to-point integrations.

Such integrations compete for available system resources to operate, causing performance degradation as requirements scale up. 

Perspectium on the other hand, replicates data to its MBS, and target systems retrieve data from the MBS rather than ServiceNow directly.

This means employees using ServiceNow aren’t impeded by repeat API calls to the platform that consume system resources and cause performance degradation. 

The Perspectium MBS is for organizations who:

• Require a high-throughput, scalable ServiceNow integration and data replication service.
• Would benefit from ServiceNow integration expertise to ensure integration requirements are captured sufficiently.
• Lack the resources to build and/or maintain an effective, custom integration.
• Have concerns about or experienced issues with API and ETL/web services – including security, throughput and their impact on ServiceNow performance.

Third-party integration platforms

Third-party integration platforms are another type of Integration Hub alternative. 

Typically, such integration platforms are reliant on API and ETL/web services and face similar limitations as the Integration Hub in terms of throughput. 

However, as they are purpose-built integration platforms they typically provide a wider range of capabilities, and are more versatile than the Integration Hub. 

Such solutions  are not solely focussed on ServiceNow, often supporting a number of different integrations. 

Examples of integration platforms include:

• Exalate
  • G2 users say: Relatively low effort, requires some tuning to meet particular requirements
• Mulesoft Anypoint Platform
  • G2 users say: No-code/low-code implementation/set up, steep learning curve
• Workato
  • G2 users say: Well documented resources for support, simple tasks can require significant configuration
• Cleo Integration Cloud
  • G2 users say: Easy implementation, complex process for building integrations
• Celigo
  • G2 users say: Well documented resources for support, steep learning curve.
• JitterBit
  • G2 users say: Pre-built connectors support ease of use, difficult to scale
• Zapier
  • G2 users say: Easy implementation, limited flexibility

While features vary by vendor, versatility is a common selling point. However, this comes with a trade-off, in that the more capable solutions require more input from internal developers to deploy and maintain.

As such users must decide between limited capabilities and low/no-code platforms, or more complex, more capable solutions requiring extensive configuration. 

Third-party integration platforms are for organizations who:

• Want to avoid building their own custom integration.
• Have some development resources available to support maintenance.
• Do not have high-throughput requirements that will cause performance degradation in ServiceNow.
  

DIY/Custom Integrations

DIY/custom integrations describe integrations built using an organization’s internal resources. They are a viable Integration Hub alternative for those with the development resources to support the integration effectively. 

However, the time and investment required to plan, develop, implement and subsequently maintain custom integrations should not be underestimated.

Errors and issues that disrupt the integration are common, and developer turnover can be a significant continuity issue for the integration. 

As such, a formalized integration team is advised, and organizations will require processes and documentation in place to insulate integrations from developer turnover.

DIY/Custom integrations are for organizations who:

• Have large development teams and the capacity to dedicate resources to implementing and maintaining the integration.
• Are confident they can build an integration that meets their requirements such as throughput, ease-of-use, etc.
• Have specific integration requirements that exist outside of integration platform offerings.

Recommendation: Perspectium Is a Tried and Tested Integration Hub Alternative

Perspectium’s scalability and high-throughput was a key driver in ServiceNow choosing to use Perspectium. 

The ITSM solution provider required a solution to replicate the data within ten production instances into multiple external databases where it could be more easily accessed around the enterprise for reporting, analysis and more.

Perspectium was created by the founding developer of ServiceNow, for ServiceNow specifically. Its applications are delivered and maintained as-a-service by a team that understands the ServiceNow platform, allowing for efficient and fast implementation. 

If you’d like to talk to us about how Perspectium can work for you, click here.