• Created by user-1bc08, last modified by user-4dac1 on Jun 29, 2021


ServiceInsight works alongside the DataSync application and the DataSync Agent. 

Leveraging the DataSync application, your data from your ServiceNow instance will be shared out to the Perspectium Integration Mesh, where the DataSync Agent will then read this data into a database. 

You have the option to either use your own database (see list supported database list below) and your own self-hosted DataSync Agent, or a Perspectium-hosted option where the DataSync Agent and a cloud database (MariaDB) will be set up in the Perspectium Integration Mesh. Your integrated data will then be available to see in a supported analytics application. 

What's on this page?

Supported Analytics Application 

  • Tableau

Supported Database 

  • MySQL
  • MSSQL
  • Postgres
  • Oracle




Prerequisites 

(warning) First, you will first need to install the Perspectium application into your ServiceNow instance by installing update sets in the following order:

  1. Perspectium Core update set
  2. Perspectium ServiceInsight update set

Follow the link to Install and Configure DataSync for ServiceNow. 

(warning) Then, you will need a supported database and an analytics application (Tableau) installed and connected to your database. 



Initial Setup

Upon the initial configurations for viewing your dashboards, you have two options:

Option 1: Use your own database and your own self-hosted DataSync Agent

Set up initial configurations for an existing queue

Before you begin, make sure you have the following: 

(warning) Create a ServiceNow shared queue. 

(warning) Have the DataSync Agent running configured with the shared queue created above. 

In your ServiceNow instance, go to Perspectium > ServiceInsight > Setup. Then, click Start Setup. 

To select the setup type, click the Select a Setup Type dropdown and choose Use Existing Shared Queue. 

In the Select a Queue dropdown, select the queue that your Agent is currently configured to read records from. 

Under the Dashboards section, you can select which dashboard you want to use for displaying your data. To read more about what each dashboard represent, go here. 

To select one or more dashboards, click the dashboard in the Available section. Then, click the right arrow to transfer the dashboard to the Selected section. 

Under the Share Options section, do the following:

Click the Frequency dropdown. Choose how often data should be shared from your ServiceNow instance for your selected dashboards, i.e. Hourly, Every 6 Hours, Every 12 Hours, Daily, On Demand. The value selected will be used to schedule bulk shares created as part of the ServiceInsight setup to run at the desired frequency.

Click the Database Type dropdown and choose which database your Agent is configured to save records to. 

Click Create Shares to finish your ServiceInsight setup.

After clicking Create Shares, you will be directed to the Overview page. Download the Tableau workbook by clicking Download Tableau Workbook. 

Once the zip file is available to you, follow the steps in Set up Tableau Workbook.

Option 2: Use a Perspectium-hosted option

(With this option, the DataSync Agent and a cloud database (MariaDB) will be set up in the Perspectium Integration Mesh)

Set up initial configurations with a new database

In your ServiceNow instance, go to Perspectium > ServiceInsight > Setup. Then, click Start Setup. 

To select the setup type, click the Select a Setup Type dropdown and choose Register a new Database. 

Fill all the required fields under Account Information to register your Perspectium account. 

Under the Dashboards section, you can select which dashboard you want to use for displaying your data. To read more about what each dashboard represent, go here. 

To select one or more dashboards, click the dashboard in the Available section. Then, click the right arrow to transfer the dashboard to the Selected section. 

Under the Share Options section, click the Frequency dropdown.

Choose how often data should be shared from your ServiceNow instance for your selected dashboards, i.e. Hourly, Every 6 Hours, Every 12 Hours, Daily, On Demand. The value selected will be used to schedule bulk shares created as part of the ServiceInsight setup to run at the desired frequency.

Check the agreement box if you agree to provide your account information to Perspectium for your connection to the Perspectium Integration Mesh.

Then, click Finish Setup to finish your ServiceInsight setup.

After clicking Finish Setup, you will be directed to the Overview page. Download the Tableau workbook by clicking Download Tableau Workbook. 

Once the zip file is available to you, follow the steps in Set up Tableau Workbook.

(info) NOTE: You will also receive an email containing your Tableau workbook. 



View your Data in an Analytics Application

Set up Tableau Workbook

Open the Tableau workbook acquired from the previous step above.

The following window will appear upon opening the workbook. 

Depending on your Tableau version, you may see the second image right away. Otherwise, click the Edit Connection to access the configuration. 

Then, replace all fields with your credentials:

FieldDescription
Server

Hostname or IP address of the machine where your database is running

Database

Name of the database where the tables (i.e., incident, task_sla) are replicated to

Username / PasswordCredentials to login to the database

Once you are logged in, you can start customizing the workbook.

Fields that are highlighted in blue and have a red asterisk indicate that they can be edited or changed. 

In the Instance Name field, replace $REPLACE_INSTANCE with the instance name to access your instance through the ServiceNow links in the dashboard (i.e., dev12345). 



Additional Configurations

If you are using Oracle as your database, you will need to do the following:

Set up ServiceInsight for Oracle

Before you proceed, make sure you have the following: 

(warning) Acquire the databases.xml configuration file from Perspectium Support.

In Tableau, you will need to replace the tables in the Data Source tab. Select the schema the tables are in and drag the tables with their joint tables.

You should have the following: 

DashboardStandalone TablesJoined Tables
ITSMIncident

With incident and task_SLA, do the following: 

Left join with NUMBER and DV TASK

HRSn_hr_core_case

With sys_user and sn_hr_core_profile, do the following:

Left join with SYS_ID and USER

ITOM/ITAM

Cmdb_ci

With cmdb_ci and incident, do the following:

Inner join with SYS_ID + CMDB_CI

CSM

Sn_customer_service_case

Customer_account

With sn_customer_service_case and task_SLA, do the following:

Left join with NUMBER and DV TASK

Move databases.xml into the Agent's conf folder i.e. <Perspectium_Replicator_Agent_Installed_Directory>/conf

Then, in databases.xml, you will need to change the following values in the <database_type>oracle</database_type> section:

Old ValueNew Value
NCLOBNVARCHAR2(2000)
BINARY_DOUBLENUMBER(15\,2)

Snippet of databases.xml:

<database>
	<database_type>oracle</database_type>
	<datatypes>
		<mapping sn_type="4" db_type="-5">NUMBER(38)</mapping>
		<mapping sn_type="6" db_type="6">NUMBER(15\,2)</mapping>
		
		<mapping sn_type="16" db_type="-15">NCHAR(1)</mapping>

		<mapping sn_type="91" db_type="91">DATE</mapping>
		<mapping sn_type="93" db_type="93">TIMESTAMP</mapping>

		<mapping sn_type="12" db_type="-9">NVARCHAR2</mapping>	
		<mapping sn_type="2011" db_type="2011">NVARCHAR2(2000)</mapping>
	</datatypes>
	
	<can_alter_length/>
	<column_max_size>2000</column_max_size>NVARCHAR2(2000)</column_max_type>
	<column_max_sql_type>2011</column_max_sql_type>
	.
	.
	.
	
	<column_max_type>