IntegrationHub Usage also counts integrations triggered by Flow Designer!

[Mark Roethof]

Note: Concerning licensing always consider contacting your account representative.

Hi there,

Working with IntegrationHub, you are probably aware that there is a maximum yearly usage. The "IntegrationHub Usage" dashboard provides nice insight into this. Obviously the IntegrationHub Usage increases when triggering IntegrationHub components, like spokes, or Actions like the REST step which are added when installing IntegrationHub plugins. Though did you know, that the IntegrationHub usage count, is not limited to IntegrationHub usage solely? That the IntegrationHub usage count is also increased by integrations that are triggered by Flow Designer which you are expecting not to trigger any IntegrationHub components?

Yes, IntegrationHub usage count is also increased by integrations that are triggered by Flow Designer. If you for example create a Flow Action, with a Script step that executes a scripted REST Message: the IntegrationHub usage count increases. If you for example have a Flow that updates a Task record, and due to that update a Business Rule triggers a scripted REST Message: the IntegrationHub usage count increases.

Because I haven't faced a single customer or consultancy company yet, who was already aware of this before I entered the premises, I decided to write a short blog on this.

Example 1: Scripted REST Message within Script step in an Action, triggered by a Flow

The first example is basically using Flow Designer, because for example you want to use Flow Designer because of it's ease of use, less coding involved, the error handling possibilities, etcetera. In this example, the actual integration though is not being done through an (out-of-the-box) spoke though an Action which contains a Script step which performs a REST Message (so no IntegrationHub components). This Action is being triggered from within a Flow.

This will cause the IntegrationHub usage to increase.

Example 2: Scripted REST Message within a Before Business Rule, which is triggered by a record change, which is caused by a Flow

The second example concerns updating a record through Flow Designer. On the actual record upgrade, something else is triggered. For this example, a Business Rule triggers an integration (scripted REST Message, so no IntegrationHub components).

In this case I just used a simple before Business Rule, though you could imagine doing such using Script Includes etcetera, which is triggered because the record is assigned to a vendor and in that case an additional business rule takes care that record updates are synced with that vendor.

This will cause the IntegrationHub usage to increase.

Summary

While the ServiceNow license model is always moving and customers can have different individual agreements, exceptions, etcetera: what I wrote above has been confirmed by ServiceNow. The IntegrationHub Usage count also increases when integrations are triggered by Flow Designer, even when you are not using a specific IntegrationHub component. This is valuable to know when designing new solutions and considering using Flow Designer or staying away from Flow Designer on certain areas. Also monitor your IntegrationHub usage closely, you might be triggering integrations through Flow Designer that you are not aware of or that you didn't foresee being triggered.

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And that's it! If any questions, let me know.

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Kind regards,

Mark Roethof

Freelance ServiceNow Consultant
3x ServiceNow Developer MVP

3x ServiceNow Community MVP

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