Integration with other Service Now instances & JIRA ITSM via API - with or without an middleware

[Guenny]

Hi Community,

we as a customer receive requests to allow integration / communication between our ServiceNow Instance and the ones of our Suppliers. One of them also uses JIRA ITSM. All of the Suppliers want to work off Incident Tasks, Service Catalog Tasks, Change Tasks and so on - usually all ITSM disciplines. 

At the moment we haven't no idea / position to that. I now that REST API is available and something like an industry standard. In addition some of our suppliers using some middleware between their ticket system and the other customer tools.

Prior I want talk to some ServiceNow Architekt I'd like to gain some knowledge and ask this community to point me in the rigtht direction.

1. What are the benefits or trade offs of using REST API between several system direct vs. establishing something in between? Are there thresholds or scenarios where it is recommended?

2. In general, what do we as a company consider if we start using REST API to interact with several providers and there systems?

Rgds

Sebastian 

[Martin Ivanov]

Hi.As long as you have the right knowledge and experience, REST API instance-to-instance (or to whatever third party system you want) is quite robust solution. Servicenow offers some APIs that will help you facilitate this.

trade-offs might be that you will need to do some data validation and/or mapping inside the scripted rest apis/or outbound messages, but you will need to do in if you use middleware as well - just you will do it on another place.

Take a look here for some examples:

link, link, link, link

Also, check out Chuck Tomasis wonderful series about Integration in ServiceNow.

Hope all that helps.

Please Mark my response as Corect AND Helpful. Thanks!

[Guenny]

Thanks for the reply. Are there advantages and disadvanteges using an middleware instead of instance to instance directly?

As far as i understood mapping i need to either way.

What may topics in addition to mapping?

[Rahul Priyadars]

Hi Guenny

Middleware Fitted Best in Our use case than P2P REST Integration.

We have a Domain Separated Service Now for Shared Services Support.

We have 55+ REST bases Integration where Our Service Now In Integrated with Customer Service Now for IM/PM/CM/CMDB Data too.

Use of Middleware (In Our Case its IPASS Dell Boomi) adds an extra layer of ease Why

(1) There is almost no load on Service Now /ITSM Tool as it POST data to Middleware - Work Done . 

(2) All Processing Load and Logic is at Middleware layer so Integration Load is Shifted from Service Now/ITSM Tool to Middleware layer

(3) It adds 2 Layer Authentication for Integration ..

Source ITSM -- Auth1----> Middleware----Auth2----> Target ITSM System

(4) Every Customer has its own process and foundation data. So Data Transformation (Apple to Orange Mapping) is done at Middleware layer in Our case.

Hope this helps.

Regards

RP