ServiceNow <-> System Center Orchestrator integration challenges...

[donaldanderson]

I've spent hours scouring the web and communities to identify a way to have ServiceNow perform a simple copy of an xml file (that we create in a SN workflow) to a fileshare (via SMB or FTPS, etc.), but everything keeps pointing me back to the SN orchestration module, which we don't own.    

I'm trying to avoid requesting the purchase of 3rd party integration packs from the ServiceNow store (e.g. Kelverion or Automys) as our budget is currently constrained and I'd prefer to use native REST functionality, which I assumed was feasible.

Unfortunately, Microsoft informed us that System Center Orchestrator (SCORCH) doesn't support consuming standard inbound REST POSTs (very disappointing as I thought this was a safe assumption after viewing numerous SC Technet videos which mentioned heavy reliance on REST integration).

Microsoft has suggested copying the XML to an NTFS share that SCORCH can constantly monitor then pickup and consume.

IDEA:   Since SCORCH can perform REST GETs then perhaps we can schedule periodic checks (e.g. every 15 minutes) of the ServiceNow Workflows' TASK table for attached XMLs created in a specified window?  

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!   Thanks!!!

[Steve McCarty]

We have a similar requirement where we are sending XML data to a different internal system.   We use the ECC Queue for sending the information back and forth.   The workflow process in Service-Now creates a record on the ecc_queue table.   We put in set values in the agent, topic, and name fields and set the queue field to 'output'.   Then put the XML information in the payload field.   There is a program inside our network that uses SOAP to query the ecc_queue periodically and looks for unprocessed records that have the set values in the agent, topic, and name fields in the 'output' queue.   The information is processed inside our network and then the results are sent back to Service-Now and inserted into the ecc_queue.   We have a business rule that watches for items with the specific agent and topic fields to be inserted into the 'input' queue and processes the return payload XML data in Service-Now.  

The key is putting the information into a place that your system can periodically monitor and consume.   The ecc_queue was built specifically for that.   It was designed with discovery and orchestration in mind, but it can be used even if you don't have those pieces.

-Steve

[donaldanderson]

Thanks for sharing the innovative thinking Steve!

Microsoft also responded back with this article<https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/orchestrator/2012/03/25/starting-runbooks-and-stopping-jobs-using-the-system-center-2012-orchestrator-web-service/> as a potential solution:

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/orchestrator/2012/03/25/starting-runbooks-and-stopping-jobs-using-the-system-center-2012-orchestrator-web-service/

I like your solution better, so we'll give that a shot first, but thought I'd share a potential solution "from the other side…".

Thanks so much! Any other potential solutions from the community are welcomed as well!

Donald Anderson