Inbound Integrations in ServiceNow 

In this article, we will learn about inbound integrations in ServiceNow with other third-party applications. Inbound and outbound integrations both have their importance in implementing a solution. Writing an API that will receive or send data to a third-party application is a long work in any custom application. 

But in ServiceNow, it is comparatively very easy to integrate ServiceNow with other third-party applications. Like in the case of custom API writing, you can also modify API behavior, such as response, with almost no code. 

Example of Inbound Integration in ServiceNow 

Let’s have a look at an example of an inbound integration in ServiceNow. In a project, integration of Workday with ServiceNow was required. The requirements were to automate the hiring and termination process, which would be initiated through Workday. Workday is an American on-demand cloud-based software provider with expertise in applications for financial management, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and human capital management (HCM). 

The first thing in the project was to create an import set table and a transform map that would guide incoming records from the import set table to the desired table. 

One functionality of transform maps that stands out is that you can write a script to modify the response and add your custom messages for certain errors or conditions using the error message object. A date validation was added on the hire date and termination date and changed the response. This changed response will give you an error message and will not insert a record in the desired table when the transform map is executed. 

In the next step, a custom table was created where these records would be saved. An integration account was also created, which was used in the authentication of the ServiceNow instance. The ACLs were configured for the custom table and roles for the integration account, which will give a limited access to the ServiceNow instance. 

Now, it was time to set up inbound integration from Workday to ServiceNow. Luckily, in ServiceNow, there are a number of different OOB functionalities for inbound and outbound integrations. For inbound integration to a third-party application, ServiceNow provides OOB rest API endpoints on which requests can be sent. These requests are automatically guided to the respective place i.e., table or catalog item. 

In the project, the import set table was used as an entry point from the workday. If anyone is interested, you can check OOB rest APIs from REST API Explorer. Just select the proper namespace and table and select which request suits your requirements. The rest API from Postman was tested with the proper schema. 

After completing the testing, endpoints were sent to the Workday side. They made some requests, and when they were successful, this part was done. With this, the first segment of the project was achieved, which was to trigger the User onboarding/offboarding process from the Workday side and send all data to ServiceNow through inbound integration. 

Conclusion

This project highlights how effective ServiceNow’s integration capabilities are. With the help of inbound integrations, organizations can easily integrate their systems and improve workflows. Integrations play an integral role in making sure that there is operational efficiency in a business. 

Mobiz has a number of different solutions like this for your company to try. Feel free to reach out to us if you have any queries regarding ServiceNow implementation or solution.