IntegrationHub-Extract Tranform Load (IH-ETL) is GA in ServiceNow store

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The importance of data in the digital economy cannot be overstated. CMDB data is a critical piece of the puzzle for our customers to realize better outcomes from NOW platform. This is also an area where our customers have struggled to create a healthy and enriched CMDB by accruing data from multiple 3rd party data sources that bring additional value. These data sources are integrated into the CMDB through various eclectic tools and techniques that often result in duplicate data in the CMDB or worse, creating islands of data that can only be useful to the application that brought the data in.

With the goal of addressing the CMDB health challenge and 3rd party data ingestion in mind, we began our journey in Orlando. Most notably, the introduction of a modified, improved data ingestion technology, Robust Transform Engine (RTE) that is tightly coupled with Enhanced Identification and Reconciliation Engine (IRE). Together, they allow customers and partners to bring data from external sources, offering higher performance and data quality.

Today, we are pleased to announce the General Availability of IntegrationHub-Extract Transform Load (IH-ETL) and a companion app, Integration Commons for CMDB in ServiceNow store. IH-ETL is a new guided experience that allows a ServiceNow integration developer, a partner or a customer to build and test a CMDB integration without having to write custom code.

The Guided Setup UI walks the partner-developer through data import, data mapping to appropriate CMDB classes and fields. IH-ETL application also come with several out-of-the-box transform functions that provide a uniform way to cleanse the incoming data. The transform functions are available as part of Integration Commons app. Integration Commons app also provides an Operations Dashboard that captures performance and other KPIs that provide a bird’s eye view on the operational aspect of any integration. Best part is, the integration app that uses IH-ETL automatically gets the Dashboard as part of the framework without any additional work.

A number of design partners and beta customers have been using this toolset (IH-ETL, RTE, IRE) to develop new connectors with great success. As more and more CMDB connectors adopt this new technology, we will have an easy to use, uniform way of ingesting and mapping data into CMDB data model. This is a huge step towards eliminating duplicates and islands of data in the CMDB.

Solution Overview

Prior to Orlando, integrations were built using Data Sources and Transform Maps to target the CMDB. This couldn’t target multiple tables, often required scripting and bypassed the IRE, potentially creating duplicates.

With IntegrationHub-ETL, the integration developer gets a UI for configuring mapping, a preview / test capability, ability to map to multiple tables and create CI relationships.

Integration Flow

The Guided setup experience

The users are guided through the different steps in a ‘setup’ like experience. Showing them the steps they have completed and the next steps to follow. 

  

Please follow documentation, demo, on-demand lab links at the bottom of this post.

A word on Integration Commons for CMDB

As mentioned earlier, this companion app includes most commonly used transform and data cleansing operations. Integrations that are built using IH-ETL automatically benefit from an out of the box Operations dashboard that provides the customer with a central place to track progress of various integrations imports, troubleshoot issues, keep an eye on performance metrics. The goal is to make this CMDB Integrations Dashboard, a one-stop-shop for all operational aspects of various connectors.

For further information, please visit the following resources:

NOW Store Apps:
IntegrationHub-ETL
Integration Commons for CMDB

Demo Video:   IntegrationHub-ETL video

NOW Learning On-demand Lab:  IntegrationHub-ETL On-demand Lab

Documentation:
IntegrationHub-ETL
Integration Commons for CMDB