IoT and ServiceNow, leveraging Now Platform
Quick questions before we proceed and these are the ones we answer in this article: How can IoT (Internet of Things) be a game changer within ServiceNow? Which ServiceNow Applications/Modules can we engage with IoT? Spot any Use Case to understand IoT (Internet of Things) within ServiceNow ?!
I. What is IoT (Internet of Things)?
Internet of Things has many definitions, a simpler one is 'any Embedded System given the power of Internet will be the Internet of Thing'. The Embedded System can be any electronic device or an electronic part of any machine, say a Car, Mobile, Refrigerator, Smart Watch and many more..
II. What purpose we are giving the power of Internet?
In a crude way, the connected devices over internet will be similar to a client-server (both being computers at core) model. Rather in detail, we have sensors, actuators as things when we talk about IoT. What internet benefits we have for a client-server model, the same and yet more expectation we have on IoT devices.
III. ServiceNow as a platform for handling Internet of Things (IoT)
Most understood part would be integrations when we talk about IoT within ServiceNow. We have web services to integrate with any 3rd party system in ServiceNow, as we now speak of Internet and we know that every request in ServiceNow is run in a HTTPS session with a valid certification for GET, PUT, POST, PATCH & DELETE Operations. We use the same methodologies to integrate with IoT, this can be seen in two ways - direct integration, cloud integration.
Direct Integration:
When a sensor (web capable hardware) is directly reporting to ServiceNow database using a simple REST Method, would generate a record in ServiceNow and this can be seen as a direct integration of IoT with ServiceNow.
Cloud Integration:
When a sensor reports to any cloud provider say AWS/GCP (Amazon Web Services/Google Cloud Platform) and the sensor produced data is in turn processed in the cloud for Processing, Filtering, Analytics etc., and then sent the data from AWS to ServiceNow via REST Method could be seen as a cloud integration of IoT with ServiceNow.
Where and what Applications of ServiceNow can be used in the IoT ServiceNow Platform:
The basic ITSM (IT Service Management) operations can be of first priority when we speak of IoT in ServiceNow. Incident, Problem, Change, Service Catalog and especially, the CMDB (Configuration Management Database). Few examples would be -
a. If a CPU is getting heated up in a remote area (categorized as industrial IoT area) and this data is captured by a sensor to report either as an incident or automate the 'process of cooling' or 'switch for a load balance' using orchestration (this acts like actuators in IoT model)
b. When a user is on-boarded and a single click on his new desk would result in providing the employee with all necessary assets and infra ('order guide' automation) with all the HR processes (HR Modules) starting automatically. This click can be a button similar to the demo that Chuck Tomasi has shown in last December - link: ServiceNow: Make it easy for your customers to reach you
The above ITSM is not the limit as we progress in IoT developments, it can be reached to ITBM (IT Business Management) as well. The processes, modules, step by step project planning etc., can all be automated, managed at every point using different IoT hardware or IoT software models.
The list could be never ending once you just give a thought on how your organization is now and what could you do to automate and ease processes for employees and clients.
IV. Your first ServiceNow IoT experiment - Using Mobile App, Arrow Connect platform:
There is a specific use case here as we experiment with Arrow Connect Platform. Use Case: Generate an Incident in ServiceNow if the registered mobile senses light < 10 luminous flux.
The model life cycle revolves around input devices, gateway and output action, these are shown below:
1. IoT Device: Mobile (Redmi 3S Prime); 2. GateWay: Arrow Connect; 3. Output Action: ServiceNow (Create Incident)
Steps to perform the ServiceNow - IoT prototype:
Step 1: Arrow Connect Platform
Create an account at Arrow Connect https://www.arrowconnect.io/ sign up for a free account which will redirect you to https://portal.arrowconnect.io/. In the portal you can see Developer Hub as a Menu button which redirects you to https://developer.arrowconnect.io/ website. You can quick start understanding how to use Arrow Connect and install a mobile app for gateway purpose. At the end you must be able to view your mobile device under My Assets Menu in the Arrow Connect Portal & test your mobile app for sensors accessibility. Following screenshots will help you out!
Step 2: Register a Device to sense the world from Arrow Connect Gateway
The next step is to register a device in the Arrow Connect Portal with a specific action to perform based on received data from sensors of that particular device.
Add a device as shown in the screenshot with actions as Send Email & Post Back URL as shown:
Action 1: Send Email
Criteria: light<10.0
Email: Give your email here
Message (text/plane): Type your message here
Action 2: Post Back URL
Criteria: light<10.0
URL: https://devxxxxx.service-now.com/api/now/table/incident
Headers: { "Accept":"application/json","Content-Type":"application/json"}
Content Type: application/json
Request Body: {"caller_id":"8b3fc9524f332300153baa95d310c7c6","category":"hardware","subcategory":"cpu","assignment_group":"8a5055c9c61122780043563ef53438e3","short_description":"Akash IOT: Android device Redmi 3S Prime is in low light i.e., < 10 luminous flux units"}
Note: Do not forget to align the request body to your system fields.
Device Configured:
Action on Device: Send Email configuration
Action on Device: Create Incident in ServiceNow, Post Back URL configuration
Result Screenshots: Send Email
Results Screenshot: ServiceNow Incident Creation
Note: Remember we have created the incident using guest user meaning a system property is being changed - "glide.basicauth.required.api" to false to enable external api authentication without entering any credentials. We actually do not have a authentication fields within Arrow Connect - Device > Action > Rest Back URL. This can also be achieved with secured login once you understand different ways of authentication procedures (example: embed login credentials in to the Base URL)
Conclusion:
This is a basic overview on how to connect your IoT devices to ServiceNow ITSM Suite. A particular hardware with defined gateway will surely bring immense profits to industries/companies who would love to engage ITSM (via ServiceNow) with the external world using different type of sensors.
Interested ones can connect with me on LinkedIn. You got any ideas on IoT, just let me know so we can learn together. Thank you for reading out! I truly appreciate your patience in reading out this big article 😉
Note: The mobile light sensor can be brought down placing a finger on top layer of the sensor.
Regards,
Akash
