The Best Way to Share Your Data
in 6 Simple Steps by Integrating
Service Now with Jira
This article was written by Exalate.
Many teams store large volumes of data on SaaS platforms. Much of that information can be of use to teams in other departments or companies. Connecting their systems together using a B2B integration such as ServiceNow facilitates this data sharing, letting you take advantage of each other’s institutional knowledge.
Let’s say you have a software development team working in Jira that wants to sync some customer data with the service desk that uses ServiceNow. In this article, you’ll learn how those teams can work together seamlessly, wherever they are in the world.
Why Do you Need an Integration in the First Place?
Teams often want to make use of each other’s data. For example, a customer service team working in ServiceNow might track customer requests or issue reports. This information is potentially very useful for others at the same company, such as developers working in Jira. However, they can’t access the data easily.
Once they get that information, they can use it to solve problems, and reports on their progress are useful for the customer service team, who want to let the customers know their problems are being solved.
By using an integration, you can share relevant data with teams that need it. You can also filter it, so teams only see what they need, and both teams retain control over their own data. Once an integration is set up, it works silently, so users on both sides get the data they want, without having to lift a finger.
Choose the Best Solution for Your Integration
When choosing a platform for data sharing, you need to think about several things.
You want both sides to retain their autonomy to maximize control over what is shared so they can change or withdraw what is made available at any time. That enables them to remain compliant with data retention laws, too.
You need a reliable integration that can handle outages on either side, and restore itself automatically if problems occur. That saves your teams having to set things back up every time connection problems happen.
You also need a flexible solution to filter information and define how fields map from one platform to another. There should also be easy ways to do this, as well as more advanced options for users with stronger technical skills.
The right solution solves all these issues, letting anyone use it to share data in an autonomous, flexible, and secure way.
To set up this Jira ServiceNow integration, we have chosen an integration solution called Exalate, because it meets all these requirements.
So let’s see how it is done in action!
How to Integrate Jira and ServiceNow in 6 Steps Using Exalate
Jira ServiceNow Integration: How to Set up a Two-way Sync between Jira & ServiceNow
Since Exalate is a decentralized integration solution, you need to install it on both sides of your connection, which in this case is Jira and ServiceNow.
Step 1 – Install Exalate on Jira
To install the Exalate app on Jira, go to the Atlassian marketplace and type Exalate in the search bar. Select “Exalate Jira Issue Sync & More” and install it.
You’ll need to choose “Cloud” when given the option and specify the site you want to install it on.
Note: If you’re using Jira on-premise, read this instead.
Step 2 – Install Exalate on ServiceNow
For ServiceNow, you need to create a separate Exalate node. You can follow these instructions to do that in docker, contact Exalate to set up an evaluation instance on its servers, or just watch this video:
How to install Exalate on ServiceNow
Step 3 – Connect Your Jira and ServiceNow Instances
Now that Exalate is installed on both platforms, you need to connect them. You can initiate the connection on either platform. This guide starts with Jira.
On the Exalate screen, click “Connections” and then “Initiate Connection”.
Here you need to enter your ServiceNow URL. Then you can choose a configuration mode. Let’s start with the Basic mode (Exalate Free Plan).
Then choose a project to work with, and confirm you have admin access.
Click “Initiate”, followed by “Confirm” and after a brief verification, your connection is established.
Now if you want to take advantage of Exalate’s limitless flexibility, you should continue with the Script Mode.
So click on “initiate connection”, paste in your destination URL, and this time, choose script mode.
Give your connection a name and description, choose your project, and initiate the connection. Exalate will now generate a code. Copy this code and go to the other side of the connection.
Now on this side, click “accept invitation” and paste the invitation code in.
Once the connection is established, you’re ready to configure your sync.
Step 4 – Configure Your Connection to Filter What Data is Shared
Now your connection is ready you can edit it by clicking the “edit” button in its entry on the “connections” screen.
There are several tabs to work with here. Click on the rules tab and you’ll see a list of rules that affect incoming and outgoing connections.
You can remove, or change any of these to control what you want to send out to the other side and receive on your side of the connection.
Step 5 – Set Up Triggers to Control When Information is Shared
Triggers set the conditions for automatic synchronization.
To set up a trigger, go to the “edit” screen and click the “Triggers” tab. Click “Create Trigger” to make a rule that will trigger a synchronization for matching tickets.
In Jira, that’s done with JQL, while in ServiceNow you use ServiceNow search syntax.
Once your triggers are ready, Exalate will periodically synchronize any tickets that match your set conditions.
Step 6 – Begin Sharing Data
Now that your connection is set up, it should begin sharing data. Data sharing doesn’t take place immediately, so have a cup of coffee, come back, and see if things are ready.
Once configured, Exalate will take care of it automatically.
Conclusion
With the right integration in place, your teams can share data exactly the way they need. That saves work and increases your team’s ability to respond to users’ needs.
An integration doesn’t have to be difficult to set up. As you’ve read today, setting up a simple integration is very quick. Getting it to do exactly what you want takes a little more work, but the benefits are huge and long-lasting.
If you need to integrate your Jira and ServiceNow teams or want to see how Exalate is tailored to your specific needs, you can book a demo with an Exalate expert.
