Zero Copy Connector for ERP

NatashaBanerje · an hour ago

Quick-Start Guide

From installation to your first working use case.

What's Covered

1. What ZCC for ERP Does	5. Work with Models
2. Key Concepts	6. Build Your First Use Case
3. Install & Configure	7. Troubleshooting
4. Connect to Your ERP	8. Other Resources

01 What ZCC for ERP Does For You

ZCC for ERP connects your ServiceNow instance to your ERP system — SAP, SuccessFactors — and gives you multiple ways to work with that data depending on what you need.

Need live data in a workflow? Use the ZCC for ERP Action, a Scripted API or Remote Table to query your ERP in real-time. An approver opens a purchase order in ServiceNow and sees the current PO details straight from SAP — no copy, no staging table, no overnight sync. When they're done, that data isn't stored anywhere in ServiceNow. That's the "zero copy" part.

Need ERP data for reporting or analysis? Extraction Tables pull data on a schedule into ServiceNow tables — with delta load support so you're not re-extracting everything each time. Use this for dashboards, trend analysis, or anything where you need to search, filter, and aggregate ERP data on the ServiceNow side.

Need to write back to the ERP? ZCC supports Create and Update operations through BAPIs and OData. A ServiceNow workflow can create a vendor in SAP, update a purchase order, or post a journal entry — directly from a flow, no need for middleware in between.

Under the hood, ZCC is a semantic layer. It takes raw ERP tables, BAPIs, and OData services and turns them into human-readable business entities — Vendor, Purchase Order, Material, Cost Centre — that your developers can drag into Workflow Studio or make available to AI Agents. You don't need SAP functional knowledge to build a workflow on top of it. Content packs with pre-built models ship out of the box to speed things up further.

In short: Real-time access when you need it live. Scheduled extraction when you need it persisted. Write-back when you need to update the ERP. All through models you can configure, clone, and extend — no custom integration code required.

02 Key Concepts

Four things you'll work with. Quick overview — the rest of the guide walks through each one.

Core Models Define which ERP data you access — entities, fields, and operations (Read, Create, Update). ZCC ships with standard models you can use as-is or clone and modify. Custom models from scratch are also supported.	Live Data Action/Scripted API/Remote Tables ERP data queried live on every request. Nothing gets stored. Good for approvals, lookups, and validations where stale data would be a problem. Can also be used to write data back (Action/Scripted API).
Batch Data Extraction Tables Scheduled extraction into ServiceNow tables with delta load support. Use when you need persistence for reporting, dashboards, or search — where a slight delay is acceptable.	Accelerator Content Packs Pre-built models for common use cases. Models show as "DP:" and subflows as "ERP DP:" in Workflow Studio. Clone and customise them.

03 Install & Configure

Three things to do, in this order. Each step depends on the one before it.

A. Install from the Store

Go to the ServiceNow Store → search Zero Copy Connector for ERP.
Select the tile → Buy → log in → verify entitlements under Your Subscription Status.
Select Request Install → confirm when complete.

What success looks like: A new menu path appears at All > Zero Copy Connector for ERP > Zero Copy Connector for ERP Home in your navigator.

B. Assign the Admin Role

Do this before anything else. You need this role to enable model customisation and configure connections. Skip it and the next step fails.

Navigate to All > User Administration > Users → find your user.
Roles tab → Edit → search and assign sn_erp_integration.erp_admin.

Use the full scoped name — sn_erp_integration.erp_admin, not erp_admin. Without the prefix, the assignment fails. This is the most common setup issue.

This role includes erp_user, so you can immediately view remote table data. Later, assign sn_erp_integration.erp_user to end users who view ERP data, and sn_erp_integration.erp_ai_user for AI Agent use cases.

What success looks like: Navigate to All > Zero Copy Connector for ERP > Zero Copy Connector for ERP Home. You can open the page without a permissions error and see the side panel icons for Models, Remote Tables, Extraction Tables, and ERP Systems.

C. Unlock Model Customisation

Without this, you cannot clone, edit, or create models — and most of ZCC stays locked. This is the #1 "why isn't anything working?" issue.

Role required: sn_erp_integration.erp_admin

Enter sys_properties.list in the Navigator Filter.
Find sn_erp_integration.enableModelModification → set to true.

// System Property
sn_erp_integration.enableModelModification = true

// Retrieves all ERP tables and BAPIs for model building.
// Enable on non-production first — production creates
// metadata records when models/fields are added.

What success looks like: Go to ZCC for ERP Home → Models. You can now select a model and see the Clone and Manage Model buttons. If these are greyed out or missing, the property isn't enabled.

04 Connect to Your ERP System

ZCC supports two connection methods — pick the one that matches your ERP setup.

On-Premise

RFC/BAPI/OData v2 via MID Server

For SAP ECC and on-premise S/4HANA. Requires a MID Server in your network. Supports Create, Read, and Update.

Cloud

OData V2 / REST (HTTP)

For S/4HANA Cloud, SuccessFactors, and other cloud ERPs. Connects over HTTPS — no MID Server needed. Use an HTTP(S) connection with your OData endpoint and service credentials.

Before starting, set up a connection and credential alias for your ERP system in ServiceNow. The credential has to match the ERP service user account.

Navigate to All > Zero Copy Connector for ERP > Zero Copy Connector for ERP Home.
Select the ERP systems icon in the side panel.
Open a system record → add your connection (use the magnifying glass to search available RFC or HTTP connections).

What success looks like: The ERP systems list shows a green heartbeat indicator for your connected system. If the heartbeat fails — check that the credential matches the ERP service user, the URL or RFC destination is correct, and (for on-premise) the MID Server is running with ZCC in its capabilities.

05 Work with Models

Models are where everything starts. They define what ERP data you can access and what operations you can run against it.

ZCC for ERP Home → Models icon in the side panel.
Browse the list — standard models (SAP Purchase Document, SAP Material Stock, SAP Vendor, etc.) plus content packs prefixed "DP:".
Select any model to see its details: linked ERP system, remote tables, extraction tables, and operations.

Start by Cloning

For your first use case, clone an existing model. Find a standard model or content pack that covers roughly what you need, clone it, and adjust in Model Manager. Only build from scratch if nothing in the library covers your ERP entities.

Inside Model Manager

Once you open a cloned model, you can:

Add entities — connect e.g. ERP tables to the model
Map fields — human-readable names (e.g. VendorName instead of LIFNR)
Configure operations — Read, Create, Update via OData or BAPIs
Set up table joins — combine data from multiple ERP tables

Each model supports one Create, one Read, and one Update operation. Need two Read variants of the same entity? Clone the model and configure each separately. ZCC also includes guided tours for common Model Manager tasks — look for the tour prompts when you first open these pages.

What success looks like: You can open a cloned model in Model Manager, see the list of mapped fields with human-readable names, and the configured Read/Create/Update operations appear in the operations panel.

06 Build Your First Use Case

Connection live. Models available. Admin role done. Time to wire something up.

Pick a use case. The best starting point is a process where people currently bounce between ServiceNow and the ERP system — approvals, data lookups, status checks, validations. Pick something small enough to ship fast but visible enough to matter.
Find or clone the right model. Browse standard models and content packs for one that covers the ERP entities you need. Clone it. Open Model Manager and confirm the Read operation returns the fields your users need.
Build a flow in Workflow Studio. Use the Action: "Use ERP Data", and your model operations appear as native actions in the Flow. Add approval steps, notifications, routing, escalation. No scripting required.
Test with real data. Trigger the flow with an actual ERP document. Verify data correctness, proper routing, and (if applicable) that the write-back updates the ERP record.

What success looks like: You see live ERP records with human-readable field names in Flow Designer. Update a record in the ERP system, and the change appears immediately. Your Workflow Studio flow triggers, reads live data, and completes the action end-to-end.

07 Troubleshooting

Common first-time issues and what to do about them.

Symptom	Likely Cause	Fix
Can't clone or edit models	`enableModelModification` not set to true	`sys_properties.list` → find the property → set true
Can't enable the property	Admin role missing or assigned without scope prefix	Assign `sn_erp_integration.erp_admin` (full name)
Heartbeat failed	Credential, URL, or MID Server issue	Check: (1) credential matches ERP user, (2) URL/RFC is correct, (3) MID Server running with ZCC capability
Workflow action errors	ERP user lacks auth. access to the OData/BAPI	Check ERP user authorisation for the specific API.
No content pack models	Pack not installed, or non-SAP ERP	Install from the Store separately. Content packs currently work with SAP systems only.

08 Other Resources

Product Documentation — full reference for all ZCC features, configuration, and APIs
Content Packs — pre-built model sets for SAP use cases
ServiceNow University — ZCC for ERP Fundamentals — structured learning path for deeper product training

Questions? Feedback? We want to hear from you.

Tell us what worked, what didn't, or what you'd like us to cover next.