Use the CData ODBC Driver for ServiceNow in MicroStrategy Desktop

MicroStrategy is an analytics and mobility platform that enables data-driven innovation. When paired with the CData ODBC Driver for ServiceNow, you gain database-like access to live ServiceNow data from MicroStrategy, expanding your reporting and analytics capabilities. In this article, we walk through adding ServiceNow as a data source in MicroStrategy Desktop and creating a simple visualization of ServiceNow data.

The CData ODBC Driver offers unmatched performance for interacting with live ServiceNow data in MicroStrategy due to optimized data processing built into the driver. When you issue complex SQL queries from MicroStrategy to ServiceNow, the driver pushes supported SQL operations, like filters and aggregations, directly to ServiceNow and utilizes the embedded SQL Engine to process unsupported operations (often SQL functions and JOIN operations) client-side. With built-in dynamic metadata querying, you can visualize and analyze ServiceNow data using native MicroStrategy data types.

Getting Started

---

Connect to ServiceNow as an ODBC Data Source

Information for connecting to ServiceNow follows, along with different instructions for configuring a DSN in Windows and Linux environments.

ServiceNow uses the OAuth 2.0 authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, register an OAuth app with ServiceNow to obtain the OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret connection properties. In addition to the OAuth values, specify the Instance, Username, and Password connection properties.

See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for a guide on connecting to ServiceNow.

When you configure the DSN, you may also want to set the Max Rows connection property. This will limit the number of rows returned, which is especially helpful for improving performance when designing reports and visualizations.

Windows

If you have not already, first specify connection properties in an ODBC DSN (data source name). This is the last step of the driver installation. You can use the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure ODBC DSNs.

Linux

If you are installing the CData ODBC Driver for ServiceNow in a Linux environment, the driver installation predefines a system DSN. You can modify the DSN by editing the system data sources file (/etc/odbc.ini) and defining the required connection properties.

/etc/odbc.ini

[CData ServiceNow Sys]
Driver = CData ODBC Driver for ServiceNow
Description = My Description
OAuthClientId = MyOAuthClientId
OAuthClientSecret = MyOAuthClientSecret
Username = MyUsername
Password = MyPassword
URL = https://myinstance12345.service-now-com
InitiateOAuth = GETANDREFRESH

For specific information on using these configuration files, please refer to the help documentation (installed and found online).

Connect to and Visualize ServiceNow Data using MicroStrategy Desktop

In addition to connecting ServiceNow in MicroStrategy enterprise products, you can connect to ServiceNow in MicroStrategy Desktop. Follow the steps below to add ServiceNow data as a dataset and create visualizations and reports of ServiceNow data.

1. Open MicroStrategy Desktop and create a new dossier.
2. In the datasets panel, click New Data, select Databases, and select Type a Query as the Import Option.
3. Add a new data source and choose DSN data sources.
4. Choose the DSN you previously configured (likely CData ServiceNow Sys) and select Generic DBMS in the Version menu.
5. Set the User and Password properties for the DSN (or use placeholder values) and name the data source.
👁 Creating a new data source for ServiceNow.

6. Select the new database instance to view the tables. You may need to manually click the search icon in the Available Tables section to see the tables.
7. Create a SQL query for the ServiceNow data (see below) and click Execute SQL to test the query.

   SELECT * FROM incident
   

   👁 Querying ServiceNow for data.
   NOTE: Since we create a live connection, we can execute a SELECT * query and utilize the filtering and aggregation features native to the MicroStrategy products.
8. Click Finish and choose to connect live.
9. Choose a visualization, choose fields to display (data types are discovered automatically through dynamic metadata discovery) and apply any filters to create a new visualization of ServiceNow data. Where possible, the complex queries generated by the filters and aggregations will be pushed down to ServiceNow, while any unsupported operations (which can include SQL functions and JOIN operations) will be managed client-side by the CData SQL Engine embedded in the driver. 👁 Visualize ServiceNow data.
   
10. Once you are finished configuring the dossier, click File -> Save.

Using the CData ODBC Driver for ServiceNow in MicroStrategy Desktop, you can easily create robust visualizations and reports on ServiceNow data. Read our other articles on connecting to ServiceNow in MicroStrategy and connecting to ServiceNow in MicroStrategy Web for more examples.