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HashiCorp is excited to announce the general availability of version 2.5 of the ServiceNow Service Catalog for Terraform, now with the ability to provision no-code workspaces through the Service Catalog. This release represents another step forward in our effort to streamline processes and promote broader adoption to organizations with many ServiceNow-provisioned workspaces. These enhancements empower customers to not only securely connect external applications to ServiceNow but also provision resources with Terraform in a simpler way. The 2.5 release has been certified for the latest “Washington DC” ServiceNow server version. Important new features in the ServiceNow Service Catalog 2.5 include: Support for no-code modules Simplified MID server configuration Let’s run through what’s new: Support for no-code modules Version 2.5 of the ServiceNow Service Catalog for Terraform introduces a streamlined solution for Terraform customers when provisioning infrastructure. Previously, customers were required to connect at least one VCS (version control system) repository to their ServiceNow instance to order infrastructure through the Terraform Catalog. The updated version of the Terraform plugin gives ServiceNow administrators an option of linking Catalog Items in the Terraform Catalog to no-code modules in the HCP Terraform private registry instead of directly connecting to VCS branches. This feature opens up a new avenue for creating Terraform workspaces and provisioning infrastructure using no-code modules, empowering users to seamlessly deploy pre-approved modules without writing any Terraform code. Moreover, the updated plugin offers greater control over the release process by allowing users to upgrade previously created no-code workspaces when a new version of the no-code module becomes available. No-code modules are published in the Terraform private registry, providing an additional layer of abstraction. The no-code solution promotes a self-service model by allowing users to provision infrastructure without having to write any code. There are two personas associated with this feature: the module author, who is responsible for writing the underlying Terraform configuration and having it published as a no-code module, and the end user, who supplies any input variables or other appropriate configuration for the infrastructure to be provisioned via ServiceNow. The two-part solution provides two new Catalog Items: Provisioning a no-code workspace and deploying resources, which automatically creates and initiates a Terraform run in a new no-code workspace, reporting results and output to ServiceNow. Updating a no-code workspace and deploying resources, which updates and triggers a Terraform run in an existing no-code workspace upon a new module version release, reporting output to ServiceNow. Simplified MID server configuration Streamlining MID Server routing has long been a highly requested feature. The previous solution for streamlining MID Server routing involved manually configuring and updating each type of API request sent to HCP Terraform or Terraform Enterprise through an MID server. The Management, Instrumentation, and Discovery (MID) server is a Java application that enables communication and movement of data between ServiceNow and external applications. This enhances security posture and compliance. We have streamlined the MID server update process for enhanced traffic routing, particularly benefitting customers operating Terraform Enterprise behind a firewall. The latest improvements include the addition of a checkbox option to use an MID server and a name field with a drop-down list of MID servers available to the application’s configuration form, transforming the previously manual and repetitive process into a one-time, one-click setup step. Key benefits The general availability of the latest version of ServiceNow Service Catalog for HCP Terraform and Terraform Enterprise lets users provision infrastructure powered by no-code modules published in their organization’s private registry and provides a convenient way to route Terraform requests through a MID server. That brings three main benefits: Improved efficiency: Customers are now able to provision infrastructure without connecting to a version control repository, thus providing greater flexibility. Additionally, customers no longer need to manually enable API endpoints to use a MID Server, they can now use the checkbox, which is part of the configuration UI. Reduced risk: By implementing no-code integration, organizations can reduce their reliance on version control repositories, making them optional rather than mandatory for ServiceNow infrastructure provisioning. This approach eliminates the risk of subjecting Terraform workspaces to automatic, potentially unwanted updates with every commit to the branch, providing greater control and stability over the release process. In addition, simpler MID server enablement eliminates the error-prone task of manually updating API endpoints, reducing the chance of human error. Enhanced security: Users are now empowered to request infrastructure powered by no-code modules published securely in their organization's private registry, which helps ensure that sensitive information remains under the organization's control. Streamlining the MID server configuration process benefits Terraform Enterprise customers operating behind a firewall by reducing the risk of data breaches and making it easier for organizations to meet compliance standards. Connect your ServiceNow instance to HCP Terraform Integrating your ServiceNow instance with HCP Terraform is simple thanks to robust APIs that enable smooth data exchange and workflow automation between the two platforms. For more details and to learn about all of our enhancements in ServiceNow Service Catalog for Terraform 2.5, please review the Service Catalog configuration documentation. Additional resources for your integration journey include: Install the Terraform app from the ServiceNow Store Sign up for a free HCP Terraform account Learn how to use HCP Terraform no-code modules in the ServiceNow Service Catalog with this hands-on tutorial View the full article

If you’re a Snowflake customer using ServiceNow’s popular SaaS application to manage your digital workloads, data integration is about to get a lot easier — and less costly. Snowflake has announced the general availability of the Snowflake Connector for ServiceNow, available on Snowflake Marketplace. The connector provides immediate access to up-to-date ServiceNow data without the need to manually integrate against API endpoints. With just a few clicks, you can get ServiceNow data directly in your Snowflake account and combine it with other data sources, including ERP, HR and CRM systems. Once configured, the data will automatically refresh based on your desired frequency. Additionally, because the Snowflake Connector for ServiceNow is a Snowflake Native App built in the Data Cloud using the Snowflake Native App Framework, it leverages Snowflake’s built-in security and simplified governance capabilities. Customers get a fully managed service with no additional access fees set by Snowflake. Ensono, a managed service provider and technology adviser, joined the initial preview phase of the Snowflake Connector for ServiceNow and began using it as part of its customer portal and data warehouse modernization project (watch their Show Me Your Architecture webinar here). The company was able to work with the connector throughout the course of the project, and its ease of use and ability to streamline data delivery helped Ensono achieve a remarkable 30% reduction in costs compared to the prior solution. Here’s how. The costs of complexity Ensono, a global firm with more than 2,900 associates worldwide, offers flexible, personalized technology services and solutions for organizations across a variety of industries. To monitor the performance of mainframes, servers and cloud systems, the company needs to analyze relevant metadata and promptly address any concerns or issues. ServiceNow is Ensono’s primary system for both internal service ticket tracking and customer ticket management — and a valuable source of data for performance analysis. To extract data from ServiceNow, the company had been using a legacy tool to replicate data to other systems, including SQL Server databases, the Envision portal, its data warehouse, SLA tracking and reporting. During the data migration part of its modernization efforts, Ensono found itself syncing four different instances of ServiceNow, each requiring a separate server and license. Multiple teams were needed to maintain the complex environment. Additionally, data delivery to the Envision customer portal was heavily manual and inefficient, and internal and external ServiceNow service tickets were getting bogged down. The process quickly became costly and took away valuable time from other IT projects that could have added value to the business. In addition, the legacy tool caused performance issues to the source system due to the resource strain from the APIs. The savings of simplicity To manage these challenges, Ensono engaged Evolution Analytics, a data analytics consultancy. Adopting Snowflake as a platform gave Ensono a single source of connected data to use across its enterprise. And the Snowflake Connector for ServiceNow enabled both an initial load of historical data as well as incremental updates, giving Ensono a way to get ServiceNow data directly into its Snowflake account within minutes. The Snowflake Connector for ServiceNow makes it possible to move ServiceNow data into Snowflake quickly and easily. With control over how frequently it is refreshed, Ensono can be sure the latest ServiceNow data is always available. These updates improved the output of the Envision portal. The company was also able to seamlessly share performance data with their clients through Snowflake Secure Data Sharing. This foundation makes rolling data out to customers a minor change for Ensono, allowing them to scale and support more customers easily. Also, customers can see only their own data, which preserves privacy. Additionally, there is no longer any performance impact on the source system because there are no APIs — all of the analytical work is done in Snowflake. And Ensono’s end customers were not impacted by all the changes and updates. Some of their bigger clients are building out processes to automate the loading of data into their own ServiceNow instances, so they can see their Ensono tickets tracked in the system. The connector has helped Ensono save on resource and hardware costs, not to mention licensing fees. Previously, multiple teams worked for hours on data integration; Snowflake now handles it all in minutes. Each ServiceNow instance used to require a different server for a target database and a license; with Snowflake, no additional hardware or licenses are needed. Consolidating the systems and removing extra hardware and licenses also reduced the amount of time and resources spent on maintaining the legacy tool’s VM costs and SQL Server licenses. With the implementation of Snowflake, Ensono’s data philosophy changed to one that is built on ease of ingestion. If it needs to share data with other parties, it will use Snowflake Secure Data Sharing to simplify the collaboration process. If an additional system or application needs to be connected to Snowflake, Ensono will leverage Snowflake-provided connectors where available, making it easy to link systems. This also ties into a broader Snowflake benefit: being able to scale on-demand to exactly the size you need to deliver top performance. No need to build an extra-large server and let it sit idle, or exceed the threshold of a legacy system and have to deal with the choke point. Snowflake’s scalability ensures Ensono always has the right amount of resources at all the right times. Try Snowflake Connector for ServiceNow for yourself To learn more about Ensono’s work with Snowflake and the native Snowflake Connector for ServiceNow, watch our Show Me Your Architecture webinar, How Ensono Leverages ServiceNow Data in Snowflake to Deliver Better Customer Outcomes. Try out the Snowflake Connector for ServiceNow by installing it from Snowflake Marketplace. It’s available with no additional access fees set by Snowflake and uses Snowflake credits for compute and storage. You can also explore the product documentation and go through the QuickStart. The post Ensono Cuts Costs with Snowflake Connector for ServiceNow appeared first on Snowflake. View the full article

We are excited to announce the latest version of the ServiceNow Service Catalog integration for HashiCorp Terraform, version 2.4. This latest iteration introduces custom workspace naming and tagging, which gives teams the ability to be compliant based on organizational naming conventions. Additionally, version 2.4 introduces a new feature that enables the addition of Terraform Cloud tags during the workspace creation process. This post covers version 2.4’s new features, including: Customizing workspace names Tagging Terraform workspaces Customized workspace names Previously, workspace names were automatically named using ServiceNow RITM ticket numbers. These non-descriptive names created confusion and a lack of clarity. Now users can customize workspace names and adhere to their organization’s naming conventions, while preserving a link to the ServiceNow ticket.This provides the flexibility of adding a more descriptive name, which is prepended to the RITM ticket number upon ordering a particular Catalog Item. Terraform Cloud workspace tags Version 2.4 of the ServiceNow Service Catalog for Terraform enables workspace tagging. You can put multiple tags in a comma-separated list and the Service Catalog's backend script will parse them into separate tags and attach them to the workspace in Terraform Cloud. Some default Catalog items let users update both the name and the tags on a previously created workspace. Not only do tags provide contextual awareness, but they also help admins organize, find, and filter workspaces more effectively in the Terraform Cloud or Enterprise interface, thus reducing the amount of time spent on repetitive manual tasks. Key benefits The general availability of the latest version of ServiceNow Service Catalog for Terraform Cloud and Terraform Enterprise lets users effectively name and tag workspaces. That brings two main benefits: Improved efficiency: The automated, RITM based naming for Terraform workspaces came with significant limitations. Now teams can customize workspace names during creation improving clarity and user control. Teams running large production environments with many ServiceNow-provisioned workspaces can now work within their organization’s naming conventions.This combined effort of customizing workspace names and the ability to tag represents a big step towards delivering more meaningful code and fewer tedious tasks. Reduced risk: Custom tagging helps admins to group and better manage ServiceNow-provisioned workspaces, eliminating confusion and improving clarity. And it gives users a more efficient way to search and filter workspaces based on those tags. Get started and try Terraform Cloud Custom workspace naming and tagging are available today as generally available features. With these updates, the ServiceNow Terraform Catalog becomes even more useful to organizations with many ServiceNow-provisioned workspaces, helping to streamline processes and promote broader adoption. Learn more by reading the ServiceNow Service Catalog documentation. Install the app to your ServiceNow instance from the ServiceNow Store. Get started with Terraform Cloud for free to begin provisioning and managing your infrastructure in any environment. Link your Terraform Cloud and HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP) accounts together for a seamless sign-in experience. View the full article

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We are excited to announce the ServiceNow Service Catalog for Terraform has been updated to version 2.3. This latest iteration introduces new items to the Terraform Catalog, providing more robust options for platform teams keen on updating and redeploying their existing Terraform infrastructure — essentially enabling seamless Day 2 operations within the application. Additionally, version 2.3 addresses the issue of duplicate workspace names for customers using multiple ServiceNow instances. This post covers version 2.3’s new features, including: New Catalog items for Day 2 actions Streamlined multi-instance integration View the full article

ServiceNow today added a visualization tool to its Lightstep observability platform that will make it simpler for DevOps teams to correlate metrics, logs and traces. Ben Sigelman, general manager for Lightstep at ServiceNow, said Lightstep Notebooks will make it easier for DevOps teams to make sense of the massive amounts of data collected by the […] View the full article

Starting today, customers can now view AWS Health and service status availability powered by AWS Health Dashboard in the Connector for ServiceNow. AWS Health provides ongoing visibility into resource performance and the availability of AWS services. Customers can view the AWS Health Dashboard to get relevant and timely information to help manage events in progress, prepare for planned activities and provide information on accounts and services. AWS Health Dashboard delivers alerts and notifications initiated by changes in the health of AWS resources for near-instant event visibility and guidance to help accelerate troubleshooting. View the full article

Starting today, customers can view CloudTrail event logs corresponding to a change request using AWS Systems Manager Change Manager ServiceNow Connector. The integration helps customers understand which resources were impacted by the change request, thereby providing customers with more visibility into the change request execution. AWS Systems Manager Change Manager helps customers request, approve, implement, and report on operational changes to their application configuration and infrastructure on AWS and on-premises. Using AWS Service Management Connector, customers can create and approve change requests, and get the CloudTrail events associated with these change requests in the ServiceNow console, making the integration with AWS Change Manager even deeper. View the full article

Starting today, customers who use ServiceNow can respond, investigate and resolve incidents affecting their AWS-hosted applications using AWS Systems Manager Incident Manager and the AWS Service Management Connector. AWS Systems Manager is the operations hub for AWS applications and resources, that helps to automate reactive processes to quickly diagnose and remediate operational issues. With the Incident Manager integration with ServiceNow, customers can now automate their incident response plans in AWS Systems Manager and automatically synchronize their incidents into ServiceNow. This feature enables faster resolution of critical application availability and performance issues without disrupting existing workflows in ServiceNow. The AWS Service Management Connector also integrates with AWS Systems Manager OpsCenter to view, investigate, and resolve operational issues related to your AWS resources. View the full article

New JFrog Xray Integrations with ServiceNow Lightstep Incident Response and Spoke Help IT and SRE Teams Proactively Secure the Software Supply Chain with Real-Time, Cross-Department Visibility & Team Activation for Security Incidents Sunnyvale, CA and San Diego, CA, May 26, 2022 — (swampUP 2022) – JFrog Ltd. (“JFrog”) (NASDAQ: FROG), the Liquid Software company and creators of the JFrog DevOps […] The post JFrog Integrates with ServiceNow to Improve Software Security Vulnerability Response Times with “ServiceOps” appeared first on DevOps.com. View the full article

AWS Security Hub now supports a bidirectional integration with ServiceNow ITSM, making it easier for Security Hub users to automatically create and update tickets in ServiceNow ITSM from Security Hub findings and ensure that updates to those tickets are synced with the findings. This integration is available via the AWS Service Management Connector for ServiceNow app. After downloading the app, you can decide if you want to send all or only certain findings with specific severity levels to ServiceNow and you can decide if you want to automatically create incident or problem tickets. Then, when you make an update to various fields in the ticket, such as state or priority, those changes are automatically sent to Security Hub, so that Security Hub always has the latest and correct information about that issue. View the full article

Starting today, customers can view and select EC2 specific parameters (single and list) during provisioning from AWS accounts associated with the AWS Service Management Connector for ServiceNow, formerly known as the AWS Service Catalog Connector. Customers can also view consolidated cloud resources via AWS Config Aggregator within the ServiceNow CMDB, making it easier for ServiceNow administrators to see cloud resource transparency across AWS Accounts. View the full article

Amazon AppFlow, a fully managed integration service that enables customers to securely transfer data between AWS services and cloud applications, now supports import of all standard and custom tables from ServiceNow into Amazon S3. View the full article

ServiceNow and IBM this week announced that the Watson artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps) platform from IBM will be integrated with the IT service management (ITSM) platform from ServiceNow. Pablo Stern, senior vice president for IT workflow products for ServiceNow, said once that capability becomes available later this year on the Now platform, IT […] The post ServiceNow Partners with IBM on AIOps appeared first on DevOps.com. View the full article

ServiceNow today announced it has added four new integrations with DevOps platforms to its IT service management (ITSM) platform delivered via the cloud. The four integrations add native support for Microsoft Azure Pipelines, a Jenkins Plugin, GitHub Actions and GitLab pipelines. A continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) Spoke capability on the ServiceNow platform makes it possible […] The post ServiceNow Extends DevOps Integration Reach appeared first on DevOps.com. View the full article