Installing MID Server and RPA Agents on the same Virtual Machine yes or no?

[quentincarton]

In my RPA conversations with customers, they often ask if they can install the RPA Agent on the same machine that have the MID Server installed, technically the answer is #YES but here some stuff to keep in mind (hopefully this can help you guide them) :

Although both components, MID Server and RPA Agent, help customers connect their ServiceNow instance (in the cloud) to their internal system/datacenter, they do not serve the same purpose.

Let me explain what each component does (as a reminder for those who may not know):

The MID server is often used for ITOM to discover CIs in the customer data center. It can also be used with IntegrationHub to connect a workflow to an internal API or run scripts such as PowerShell or Unix scripts that need to 'touch' internal infrastructure.

The RPA Unattended Agent is strictly used for RPA use cases. This involves automating specific UI actions on a workstation to mimic manual tasks that are normally performed by a human on a UI (web UI or console). The reason we need an RPA Agent on a Windows machine in the customer environment is because the customer is trying to automate specific actions in the UI of legacy apps or internal web interfaces. We are talking about 'end-user' type of apps, that are typically running on a workstation (virtualized or not)

One of the obvious reasons why a customer should not install the MID and RPA agent on the same machine is to follow some best practices, I think in IT Architecture they call this Segregation of Duty (SoD). A MID Server is likely going to need specific network access within the customer datacenter, firewall ports opened to specific network zones, etc. An RPA Agent will most likely need to have access to a console or legacy app installed on the VM and that's it (of course, the RPA Agent needs some network access to the instance - outbound via internet proxy or not). Therefore, just for network security purposes, we probably do not want to have both components on the same machine. An RPA Robot does not need similar network access to their internal system.

Another reason why I would not have both components on the same machine is for performance. One team is going to use the MID Server for a specific purpose and will have no clue what the RPA team is doing with that machine and the amount of CPU cycles or memory they are going to use. This can be problematic right?

Sorry for the long note and if this is obvious. Because I received that question several times from colleagues and customers, I thought I should share my 2 cents. I’d be happy to get your thoughts. Cheers.