ServiceNow Azure Pipelines integration | Integration Guide

Why are Azure Pipelines popular among enterprise users?

Azure DevOps Release Pipelines and Azure Build Pipelines are integral components in modern software development, offering streamlined automation and efficiency to organizations. Azure DevOps Build Pipelines automate the compilation, testing, and packaging of code, ensuring that its ready for deployment. Azure DevOps Release Pipelines, however, orchestrate the deployment process, manage multiple environments and automate deployments with gates and approvals.

Companies embed the Azure DevOps Pipelines into their IT ecosystems to accelerate software delivery, improve quality, and reduce operational risks. By automating repetitive tasks, such as code building and deployment, teams can focus on innovation and delivering value to customers.

What are Azure Build Pipelines and Azure DevOps Release Pipelines?

Azure DevOps provides tools for building, testing, and deploying software through a feature called Azure Pipelines. There are two main types of pipelines in Azure DevOps Azure DevOps Build Pipelines and Azure DevOps Release Pipelines. Heres a brief overview of each:

1. Azure DevOps Build Pipelines:

Purpose: Azure DevOps Build Pipelines are used to compile, package, and validate your source code into executable artifacts. They are responsible for automating the building and testing of your application code.

Key Features:

• Build Agents: Azure DevOps Build Pipelines can execute on hosted build agents provided by Microsoft or on self-hosted agents that you manage.
• Artifact Management: You can publish build artifacts (e.g., executables, libraries) to be used in Azure DevOps Release Pipelines or other downstream processes.
• Build Triggers: You can set up triggers to automatically start a build when code is pushed to a specific branch or when pull requests are created.
• Parallelism: Azure DevOps supports parallel builds, allowing multiple jobs or tasks to run concurrently to improve build times.

1. Azure DevOps Release Pipelines:

Purpose: Azure DevOps Release Pipelines are used to automate and orchestrate the deployment of your application to various environments (e.g., development, staging, production). They help manage the release process and ensure consistent deployments.

Key Features:

• Environments: You define multiple deployment environments, and Azure DevOps Release Pipelines manage the flow of your application from one environment to another.
• Deployment Triggers: You can set up triggers to automatically start a release when a new build artifact is available or when a manual approval is received.
• Deployment Gates: Azure DevOps Release Pipelines support deployment gates, which allow you to add automated checks (e.g., quality, performance) before proceeding with a deployment.

• Rollbacks: You can define rollback strategies in case a deployment encounters an issue.

Why are Azure Pipelines often paired with ServiceNow?

Why are Azure Pipelines often paired with ServiceNow?

Companies seek to integrate their ServiceNow instances with Azure DevOps Release Pipelines and Azure DevOps Build Pipelines to streamline and enhance their software development and IT service management processes. By integrating these tools, organizations can achieve seamless automation and coordination between their development and operations teams. ServiceNow, known for its robust ITSM (Information Technology Service Management) capabilities, helps automate change management, incident tracking, and approval processes, ensuring compliance and reducing manual effort.

When combined with Azure DevOps, which excels in build and release automation, this integration allows for end-to-end visibility and control over the software delivery lifecycle. This leads to faster, more reliable deployments, improved collaboration, and enhanced customer experiences. So, it is no wonder that both ServiceNow and Azure Pipelines (Azure DevOps Release Pipelines and Azure Build Pipelines) can be found co-existing in the same IT infrastructure.

What are the advantages of integrating ServiceNow with Azure Pipelines?

Integrating ServiceNow with Azure Pipelines (either Azure DevOps Release Pipelines or Azure DevOps Build Pipelines)can bring several benefits to your organization, particularly if you are looking to streamline your IT service management (ITSM) and DevOps processes. Here are some of the key benefits of this integration:

• Efficient Incident and Change Management: Changes are properly tested and deployed while maintaining a record of all actions taken in response to incidents or changes.
• Improved Collaboration: Stakeholders can track the progress of changes and releases from within the ServiceNow interface, ensuring everyone is on the same page and reducing communication gaps.
• Enhanced Visibility: You gain better visibility into the status of your deployments and changes. ServiceNow can display the status of pipeline runs, release deployments, and associated incidents or service requests, providing a comprehensive view of your IT environment.
• Change Control and Compliance: Integration can enforce change control policies and compliance requirements by ensuring that changes go through the necessary approvals and testing phases in Azure Pipelines (Azure DevOps Release Pipelines or Azure DevOps Build Pipelines) before deployment.
• Faster Incident Resolution: When an incident is detected, ServiceNow can automatically trigger Azure Pipelines to deploy a hotfix or patch, speeding up incident resolution and minimizing downtime.

• Scalability: Whether you need to handle more incidents, changes, or deployments, the integrated solution can accommodate increased workloads.
• Historical Data and Reporting: ServiceNows reporting, and analytics capabilities can be leveraged to gain insights into the efficiency and effectiveness of your DevOps processes.

How to choose the right tool for the ServiceNow Azure Pipelines integration into the IT ecosystem?

Choosing the right tool for ServiceNow Azure Pipelines integration (Azure DevOps Release Pipelines or Azure DevOps Build Pipelines, or any other tool) into the IT ecosystem requires careful consideration of the organizations specific needs, goals, and constraints. Heres a step-by-step guide to help you make an informed decision:

• Make sure the tools selected are compatible with the existing IT ecosystem.
• Determine the integration scenarios that require support.
• Evaluate the ease of use
• Consider whether the chosen tool can scale with the organizations needs.
• Ensure that the integration tool meets the organizations security and compliance requirements.
• Ensure that it aligns with the organizations long-term IT strategy.

With no ServiceNow Azure Pipelines integration in place?

The absence of a ServiceNow Azure Pipelines integration (Azure DevOps Release Pipelines or Azure DevOps Build Pipelines)can lead to operational inefficiencies, increased risk, and challenges in delivering high-quality IT services. Integrating these systems helps streamline processes, improve visibility, enhance automation, and contributes to more efficient and reliable IT service management and software delivery practices.

With ServiceNow Azure Pipelines integration in place?

When there is a stable ServiceNow Azure integration (Azure DevOps Release Pipelines or Azure DevOps Build Pipelines) in place, all of the above-mentioned obstacles are eliminated. The risk of accumulating insufficient data and using it as a base for further strategy development and execution is eradicated. Faulty data is reduced to zero, while at the same time, bottlenecks and data silos are ruled out.

If the ServiceNow Azure integration(Azure DevOps Release Pipelines or Azure DevOps Build Pipelines)is executed properly, the connected systems open the way for IT teams to easily share critical information with one another, and with the stakeholders. Duplications are easily omitted. Time and resources are saved.

Furthermore, with the ServiceNow Azure integration (Azure DevOps Release Pipelines or Azure DevOps Build Pipelines), overall visibility on processes and operations and cross-team communication and collaboration are enhanced.

ZigiOps no-code integration platform checks all the boxes.

Why use ZigiOps for your ServiceNow Azure integration?

Companies often grapple with the decision between internal and external integration solutions, with some opting for internal solutions despite their time-consuming nature and potential drawbacks. The ServiceNow Azure Pipelines integration (Azure DevOps Release Pipelines or Azure DevOps Build Pipelines) can be complex, resulting in data gaps and delays in remediation processes, ultimately leading to customer dissatisfaction.

However, an advanced, ready-to-use solution like ZigiOps can be a significant change. ZigiOps is a flexible and scalable no-code integration platform that offers a secure ServiceNow Azure integration. It boasts an intuitive user interface and pre-configured templates, enabling users to swiftly establish integrations without expending unnecessary time and resources.

ZigiOps comprehensively covers every facet of the ServiceNow Azure integration (Azure DevOps Release Pipelines or Azure DevOps Build Pipelines), providing a customizable and adaptable approach without the need for additional applications or developer intervention. With ZigiOps, integration can be achieved in mere minutes, ensuring a stable, functional, and dependable system integration.

Its important to note that ZigiOps prioritizes data security, as it does not retain any of the data transferred between the connected systems (ServiceNow and Azure DevOps in this case).

What is the most common use case that requires the ServiceNow Azure integration?

In terms of use case scenarios, the most common reason for combining them with a multitier platform like ServiceNow is to:

• Log Azure DevOps Build Pipelines in ServiceNow as Incidents
• Log Azure DevOps Release Pipelines in ServiceNow as Incidents

ServiceNow Azure DevOps Build Pipelines use case overview

Within a company, two distinct IT teams are responsible for managing various aspects of their operations. One team oversees ServiceNow, handling issues and requests, while the other manages Azure DevOps Build Pipelines, orchestrating their development processes and tasks. Unfortunately, the lack of connectivity between these two critical functions often manifests as significant bottlenecks and the formation of isolated data silos. Consequently, the IT teams find themselves mired in manual, error-prone processes, obliging them to painstakingly transfer information from Azure DevOps Build Pipelines to ServiceNow.

The ZigiOps ServiceNow Azure DevOps Pipelines integration serves as a remedy for this persistent challenge, alleviating the prolonged and often exasperating process of data transmission. Upon deployment, ZigiOps, a user-friendly no-code tool, takes charge by autonomously retrieving existing Azure DevOps builds and seamlessly generating corresponding ServiceNow incidents.

Tailoring the integration to the specific needs of the IT teams, ZigiOps offers the flexibility to transfer only selected pipelines, such as the most recent or those that encountered issues. This level of precision is achieved through the platforms advanced filtering capabilities. With ZigiOps, the friction between ServiceNow and Azure DevOps is significantly reduced, paving the way for smoother and more efficient operations.

ServiceNow Azure DevOps Release Pipelines use case overview

In an enterprise, Azure DevOps Release Pipelines and ServiceNow coexist. Azure DevOps Release Pipelines are used by the DevOps team for code-related projects, while ServiceNow handles ticket and request management. When there is no direct connection between these systems, failed pipelines in Azure require manual entry into ServiceNow incidents. This manual process consumes time, and resources, and often results in errors.

However, ZigiOps Azure DevOps Pipelines ServiceNow integration automates data extraction, eliminating the need for manual data entry. This seamless integration prevents data errors and operational bottlenecks. ZigiOps offers advanced predefined filtering options, allowing users to choose specific data elements for transfer, including time, state, failed job/task, type, name, description, and more. This integration streamlines processes, ensuring efficient data management and freeing DevOps team members from manual tasks.

ServiceNow Azure Build Pipelines integration

ZigiOps set-up

The initial step in setting up the ServiceNow Azure DevOps Build Pipelines integration is the installation of the ZigiOps system. Detailed documentation on its prerequisites and installation procedures is readily available for further clarification. ZigiOps is accessible both on iPaaS and on-premises platforms, and its installation is remarkably straightforward, requiring just a few clicks to get up and running. Specifically, the on-premises version of ZigiOps can be fully installed in under five minutes. The login process happens in seconds with only username and password needed.

ZigiOps takes users directly to its Dashboard. It displays all currently active system integrations, licenses, and the status of the connected systems (if any).

ZigOps gallery offers a vast collection of pre-built integration templates to streamline your processes. Additionally, the integration platform offers the chance for users to import custom integration templates, catering to unique use cases that demand special attention.

ZigiOps offers enhanced capabilities for users to efficiently navigate the template library when configuring their ServiceNow Azure DevOps Build Pipelines integration. This can be accomplished by simply typing the name of either of the desired systems into the Search bar or by utilizing the filter by system pair option. In the present use case, System A and System B correspond to Azure DevOps Builds and ServiceNow. Consequently, the ZigiOps platform will promptly display the relevant template for integrating Azure Build Pipelines with ServiceNow. This streamlined approach simplifies the template selection process, enhancing user convenience.

Azure Pipelines in ZigiOps example integration configuration

Users need to define System 1 and System 2 for their integrations. System 1 represents the system the data is extracted from, and System 2 the data recipient.

In the ServiceNow Azure DevOps Build Pipelines integration scenario, System A is Azure Pipelines. Systems 2 is ServiceNow. Users have to first connect them to the ZigiOps platform before proceeding with the integration.

From the Integrated entities field we can define the data we want to transfer from Azure to ServiceNow. In our case, log failed Azure DevOps Build Pipelines (entity 1) to ServiceNow as incidents (entity 2).

Connecting to the Azure DevOps Build Pipeline instance:

The procedure is short and does not require additional effort. Establishing a successful connection with the Azure Build Pipelines is like connecting to the Azure DevOps instance.

All that is required is:

• Server URL Input the URL of your instance. For example, https://dev.azure.com.

• Instance Type Select the type of your instance.
• Organization/Collection Input the desired Organization or Collection.
• Username Input your username.
• Private Access Token Input your Private Access Token.
• Proxy Settings Enables the usage of a proxy server.

Connecting to the ServiceNow instance:

Just like with Azure DevOps, establishing a working connection to the ServiceNow instance is easy. All that is needed is:

• Server URL Input the URL of your instance.(example, https://example.service-now.com.)
• Username Input the username of the ServiceNow user.

• Password Input the password for the above ServiceNow user.
• Proxy Settings Enables the usage of a proxy server if needed.

Azure Pipelines ServiceNow Integration configuration

Example integration with Azure DevOps Build Pipelines

As seen in the image above, ZigiOps allows users to have a granular control over each step of the ServiceNow Azure DevOps Build Pipelines integration.
ZigiOps provides the capability to establish triggers, set trigger conditions, and specify expressions, which you can explore further in the linked article. These features empower us to configure the precise conditions required. Expressions play a crucial role by enabling the creation of additional variables through the manipulation of data sourced from the original system. This flexibility allows us to accomplish tasks that may not be directly supported by the source system.

In the ServiceNow Azure DevOps Pipelines with ZigiOpstriggers can vary, depending on the use case needs. Here, we have polling on critical for the enterprise data (failed build in Azure DevOps, in our case) on a pre-defined time (seconds, minutes, days). ZigiOps advanced mapping functionality helps users to set conditions directly connected to the integrated instances with these corresponding field names.

ZigiOps Azure DevOps Pipelines mappings example

ZigiOps enhanced mapping capabilities make it possible to quickly tell ZigiOps how to implement latest updates/or information. In case of new data, the ZigiOps platform collects them and sends them to the other connected ServiceNow instance.

Conclusion

Integrating ServiceNow with Azure Pipelines (Azure DevOps Release Pipelines or Azure DevOps Build Pipelines) offers several key advantages. Firstly, it streamlines the development and deployment processes by automating workflows and reducing manual intervention. Secondly, it enhances visibility and collaboration between development and operations teams, ensuring smoother release management. Thirdly, this integration enables real-time incident tracking and management, improving issue resolution speed. Additionally, it promotes compliance and governance through a centralized platform. Ultimately, the synergy between ServiceNow and Azure DevOps Pipelines (Azure DevOps Release Pipelines or Azure DevOps Build Pipelines)optimizes efficiency and reliability in software development and deployment pipelines.

Book a free demo and see how ZigiOps would work in your specific use case.