App Engine for ERP with the ServiceNow AI Platform

  • Release version: Washingtondc
  • Updated February 1, 2024
  • 6 minutes to read
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    Summary of App Engine for ERP with the ServiceNow AI Platform

    The App Engine for ERP with the ServiceNow AI Platform allows you to modernize and replatform your legacy ERP systems through ERP Integration and ERP Customization Mining (ECM). This process helps identify customizations and enables the migration of legacy data and workflows to the ServiceNow AI Platform, enhancing performance, security, and maintenance efficiency.

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    Key Features

    • ERP Integration: Connects to legacy ERP systems like SAP, allowing for data extraction and replatforming.
    • ERP Customization Mining (ECM): Analyzes custom code in legacy systems to identify candidates for replacement with ServiceNow apps.
    • Database Management: Simplifies access to data, reducing the need for database administrator intervention.
    • Workflow Automation: Streamlines the process of building and customizing ERP models and remote tables.
    • Data Extraction: Supports the creation of extraction and transformation tables for efficient data management.

    Key Outcomes

    By utilizing ERP Integration and ECM, customers can expect the following:

    • Rapid innovation on the ServiceNow AI Platform without needing extensive knowledge of legacy systems.
    • Improved efficiency in accessing and processing ERP data, reducing delays in information retrieval.
    • Enhanced capabilities for building custom applications using modern tools like App Engine Studio and Workflow Studio.
    • A more streamlined approach to identifying and consolidating legacy customizations into new applications.

    To get started, ensure you have the necessary licenses and configurations for ERP Integration and ECM, and follow the outlined tasks for installation and setup.

    Read and update your legacy ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system using ERP Canvas and identify customizations with ERP Customization Mining (ERP-CM). You can then use additional ServiceNow AI Platform apps, such as App Engine Studio (AES), to organize and replatform ERP data.

    Replatforming is the process of scanning legacy ERP system code to find potential candidates to move onto your ServiceNow AI Platform instance as new apps. You can use data from the ERP system as a source for apps built on the ServiceNow AI Platform, improving performance, enhancing security, and reducing maintenance.

    Combined benefits of integrating ERP Canvas and ERP-CM to replatform apps

    Legacy systems of records, such as SAP, can have old, complex custom code and data that require more time and effort to move to newer versions of the system of record. Use ERP Canvas and ERP-CM to scan the system of record to find and replace custom code with digitized workflows, resulting in a clean ERP core.

    Figure 1. ERP Customization Mining and App Engine for ERP
    ERP Customization Mining diagnoses your ERP system to identify customizations and recommend next steps in replatforming the apps to the ServiceNow AI Platform.

    The replatforming of legacy code enables rapid innovation on top of the system of record without knowledge of the legacy system. Database administrators and developers are then relieved of time-consuming efforts to create database views or endpoints in the system of record, freeing them to work on other projects, such as migration.

    Replatformed data is immediately available, mirrored in easy-to-manage tables and apps. Users no longer need to request information from database administrators, which can take weeks. Replatformed apps use the ERP system of record as the live data source.

    Workflow for ERP Canvas and ERP-CM

    Using ERP Canvas and ERP-CM together enables Solutions Integration consultants to implement the following workflow:
    1. Have your administrator use the Connections and Credentials app to configure credentials to connect ERP Canvas to the ERP system of record. For more information, see Connections and Credentials.
    2. Create an ERP system in ERP Canvas using the connection and credentials alias that you configured. For more information, see Create an ERP system in ERP Canvas.
    3. In ERP Canvas, build your ERP systems, ERP models, and tables in a development instance.
      1. Create or clone an ERP model that scans the specified ERP module in the system of record for available tables and fields. Note the tables and fields in the ERP model for use in extraction and remote tables. For more information, see Clone an ERP model in ERP Canvas.
      2. Add new tables, fields, and table joins to include additional data in the ERP model. For more information, see the following topics:
      3. Create update operation using a BAPI (Business Application Programming Interface) to update data on the ERP system as needed.
      4. Build and customize remote tables to make them available for use as a data source, such as when building apps in App Engine Studio. Remote tables get their records from running an associated script against an external data source. For more information, see:
      5. Work with ETL extraction tables to regularly scan the system of record and extract data to a staging table. Extraction tables retrieve large amounts of data once a day using a scheduled query, and use transform tables to process data for use on the ServiceNow AI Platform.
        • Create as many separate extraction tables as needed, such as one for each supported country. For more information, see Extracting and transforming data in ERP Canvas.
        • You must first create the table transform map that connects the source table (on the system of record) to a Glide table on the ServiceNow AI Platform. For more information on creating table transform maps, see Create a transform map.
        • Extraction processes are configured in the ServiceNow app that uses them. For example, Workflow Studio.
        • After the extraction process is run, use import sets to map imported data into ServiceNow AI Platform tables. For more information, see Import sets.
    4. Identify legacy ERP system customizations to modernize and replatform with ERP-CM.
    5. Move the ERP Canvas systems, ERP models, and tables to a production environment when they are ready. For more information, see Managing ERP development pipelines in ERP Canvas.
      1. Meet with a customer and agree to run an analysis with ERP Customization Mining on their ERP system of record.
      2. Connect the customer ERP system of record to the ServiceNow instance using ERP Canvas.
        Note:
        Most customers have their own instance.

        ERP-CM uses the system connections configured in ERP Canvas. For more information, see Working with ERP systems in ERP Canvas.

      3. Use ERP Canvas to build ERP models from fields on the available remote tables as specified in previous workflow steps.
      4. Run ERP Customization Mining to find candidates. Candidates are custom code in the system of record that you can replace with ServiceNow apps. For more information, see Browse an overview of candidates in ERP-CM.
      5. Choose candidates to replatform. For more information, see Save potential candidates to replatform.
      6. Use the candidate details in ERP-CM as a central place to enter comments and save attachments relating to the candidate. For more information, see View and work with candidate details in ERP-CM.
      7. In the candidate details, identify any similar candidates that you could combine into a single replatformed app. For more information, see How ERP-CM determines score and potential for replatforming candidates.
      8. Return to ERP Canvas to continue building data models with remote tables and extraction tables. Ensure that all the necessary data is available in the ServiceNow AI Platform. For more information, see Building and managing ERP models to work with ERP data.
    6. Use the ERP data that is now available as the data source when building apps on the ServiceNow AI Platform, such as:
    7. Measure and monitor the performance of the new app using applicable metrics and parameters with your preferred analytic tools.

    Requirements for integrating ERP Canvas and ERP-CM

    1. Requirements for installing ERP Canvas include the following:
      • A valid license
      • ServiceNow AI Platform plugins
      • MID server configuration
      • Spoke integration
      • SAP configuration
      For more information, see Requirements for installing ERP Canvas.
    2. Requirements for installing ERP-CM include the following:

    Get started with ERP Canvas and ERP-CM

    Get started with ERP Canvas and ERP-CM by completing these tasks:

    1. Install and configure ERP Canvas. For more information, see Configuring ERP Canvas.
    2. Install and configure ERP-CM. For more information, see Configuring ERP Customization Mining.
    3. Install and configure any additional ServiceNow AI Platform apps and builders that consume ERP data, such as the following: