ServiceNow Outbound Integrations 

ServiceNow is a huge platform with a wide range of features. Many of its features do not require much coding, and it has an integration hub and flow designer. This article will explore outbound integration from ServiceNow to other applications or platforms. 

When your application requests or sends data to other applications, it is called Outbound Integration. Let’s now see how ServiceNow manages outbound integrations and how difficult this ServiceNow solution is.

ServiceNow Integration Hub and Flow Designer

ServiceNow Integration Hub is an integration solution that allows users to automate processes and integrate ServiceNow workflows with third-party systems. It provides a library of reusable integrations called spokes, which can be easily configured to connect with external applications. This no-code or low-code approach simplifies the integration process and makes it accessible to technical and non-technical users. The Flow Designer by ServiceNow is a tool that allows the configuration of integrations and their actions. 

Example of ServiceNow Outbound Integrations

Here are some examples of ServiceNow Integration Hub and Flow Designer. 

Connection with a Third-Party Application

ServiceNow offers several plugins called spokes when connecting to a third-party application or platform like Microsoft Entra ID. When we install spokes, it automatically adds the records that are required to configure a proper connection. 

So, what are the records that are added by spokes? Below is the connection and credential alias in which a lot of connections depending on different Azure ADs tenants can be configured. 

Now, to the connection in which the credentials record is specified, it is needed to use the integration when sending data to other applications.

In credentials, let’s specify the entity profile, which contains profile scopes from Azure AD and Auth provider. These will contain sensitive information about the Azure AD tenant, like client ID and client secret. 

Now, how to use this setup? The answer is Flow Designer. As discussed above, when you install a spoke, you get OOB functionalities like alias and several OOB actions. These functionalities can be used to communicate with other applications. Actions in Flow Designer are units of Flow Designer that perform some OOB functionality in Flow Designer, and their working is pre-configured from ServiceNow.

 Let us first see an action from Microsoft Entra ID spoke, and how it works.

For now, let’s not go into the details of pre-processing or post-processing. However, the important thing here is the Lookup User Details which have the required part.

This shows how this action is configured OOB to send requests on a specified connection. Now, let’s execute this action for a test user, and see how this works.  

Input 

Output

There are some possible ways in which this action can be used. For example, in Mobiz, it is used in both Onboarding and Offboarding flows to find users, if there are any. 

This is just a small example of what the ServiceNow Integration Hub can achieve. It is also possible to run PowerShell scripts configured in actions like Lookup user and write data to Azure AD. 

Conclusion

Outbound integrations in ServiceNow are essential for connecting the platform with external systems. This integration also helps in data exchange, automation, and collaboration. The processes can be made simple, collaboration can be improved, and decisions can be made data-driven through a proper implementation of outbound integrations.

Actions in Flow Designer are important components that helps users to automate processes, streamline workflows, and integrate ServiceNow with other systems and services. By utlizing actions’ versatility, customization options, and integration capabilities, organizations can design efficient, scalable, and adaptable workflows.

Get in touch with us today to know more about outbound integrations in ServiceNow.