Andy Tzou, Fu Ho
The Zero Copy capability of Workflow Data Fabric lets users build experiences on ServiceNow powered by real-time, governed access to data – wherever it lives. Since the launch of Zero Copy this summer, we’ve been working with customers across manufacturing, logistics, consumer goods, financial services, and even heavy industry to bring new experiences to life. From interactive workspace UIs, live visualizations and increasingly conversational and exploratory experiences enabled by AI + Data, we continue to discover new usage patterns alongside our customers.
A compelling pattern we see gaining traction is emerging from ServiceNow’s joint customers with Microsoft who have standardized on OneLake in Microsoft Fabric. OneLake is a unified, logical data lake for the entire organization. Rather than operating in fragmented data silos, OneLake fosters collaboration around a single organizational data lake – even when the underlying data sources are distributed across clouds. OneLake is the perfect match to ServiceNow’s approach to zero data copy: data is virtualized and accessed in place, delivering the right data to workflows and AI agents on the ServiceNow platform. This avoids expensive ETL jobs and error-prone duplication of data.
In the diagram above, a customer has standardized on OneLake. They are building a workflow experience on ServiceNow that gives them near real-time visibility into their most critical business operations. Within a OneLake tenant, logical workspaces and data items allow customers to organize data across their organization. Like how OneDrive organizes files and folders, OneLake lets you organize big data flexibly. ServiceNow’s Zero Copy capability can issue real-time queries into OneLake workspaces and data items, returning only the data necessary to power the workflow or application experience on ServiceNow.
Above, the user maps data fields of interest from the source system to represent as a virtual table in ServiceNow. At the source, it is a specific table based on the Parquet data file and Iceberg open table formats. However, these are implementation details: ServiceNow issues Zero Copy queries to OneLake and the query will be executed even if the underlying data format changes. On the ServiceNow side, we surface the right data to the right workflow or AI model, seamlessly as if the data were local to our platform.
The figure above shows virtualized “Data fabric tables” on ServiceNow. They represent business entities backed by data from diverse sources, managed through OneLake.
When a Zero Copy query is issued, the actual query gets federated down to the source. OneLake fulfills the query and returns the resulting data to ServiceNow. Suppose further that additional Data Fabric tables exist backed by other data sources – such as a local ServiceNow table with data stored in RaptorDB. In this case, Zero Copy can query across these different data sourcesseamlessly.
Commitment to Openness
A cornerstone of enabling intelligent AI is ensuring openness and the unrestricted flow of data. Both Microsoft and ServiceNow are steadfast in their commitment to open standards and providing open access to data. Notably, this integration leverages the Apache Iceberg open table format for analytic datasets, along with the corresponding REST Catalog Spec. Fabric OneLake provides Iceberg IRC compliant Table APIs out of the box. Organizations can rest assured that their investments in these widely adopted standards remain protected, fully supported, and easily portable, minimizing vendor lock-in and future-proofing their data strategy.
The ServiceNow Zero Copy Connector for OneLake is scheduled for general availability in early 2026. However, customers can preview its capabilities by reaching out to their ServiceNow representative. This early preview provides an opportunity to see firsthand how seamless data integration can transform AI-enabled workflows and analytics – wherever an organization’s data resides.
To explore more, visit the ServiceNow Store (link below) or learn about Workflow Data Fabric and Zero Copy Connectors on servicenow.com.
- Store: https://store.servicenow.com/store/app/ef892b071b9eaa10f9c66575604bcbd1
- Workflow Data Fabric overview: https://www.servicenow.com/platform/workflow-data-fabric.html
