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Get the Report →Build ServiceNow Visualizations in Tableau Cloud
Use CData Connect Cloud to connect to live ServiceNow data and build visualizations in Tableau Cloud.
Tableau Cloud is an analytics platform fully hosted in the cloud. When paired with CData Connect Cloud, you get instant, cloud-to-cloud access to ServiceNow data for visualizations, dashboards, and more. This article shows how to connect to ServiceNow and build visualizations from ServiceNow data in Tableau Cloud.
CData Connect Cloud provides a pure SQL Server, cloud-to-cloud interface for ServiceNow, allowing you to easily build visualizations from live ServiceNow data in Tableau Cloud without installing connectors or publishing worksheets and data sources from Tableau Desktop. As you build visualizations, Tableau Cloud generates SQL queries to gather data. Using optimized data processing out of the box, CData Connect Cloud pushes all supported SQL operations (filters, JOINs, etc) directly to ServiceNow, leveraging server-side processing to quickly return ServiceNow data.
About ServiceNow Data Integration
CData simplifies access and integration of live ServiceNow data. Our customers leverage CData connectivity to:
- Get optimized performance since CData uses the REST API for data and the SOAP API for schema.
- Read, write, update, and delete ServiceNow objects like Schedules, Timelines, Questions, Syslogs and more.
- Use SQL stored procedures for actions like adding items to a cart, submitting orders, and downloading attachments.
- Securely authenticate with ServiceNow, including basic (username and password), OKTA, ADFS, OneLogin, and PingFederate authentication schemes.
Many users access live ServiceNow data from preferred analytics tools like Tableau, Power BI, and Excel, and use CData solutions to integrate ServiceNow data with their database or data warehouse.
Getting Started
About ServiceNow Data Integration
CData simplifies access and integration of live ServiceNow data. Our customers leverage CData connectivity to:
- Get optimized performance since CData uses the REST API for data and the SOAP API for schema.
- Read, write, update, and delete ServiceNow objects like Schedules, Timelines, Questions, Syslogs and more.
- Use SQL stored procedures for actions like adding items to a cart, submitting orders, and downloading attachments.
- Securely authenticate with ServiceNow, including basic (username and password), OKTA, ADFS, OneLogin, and PingFederate authentication schemes.
Many users access live ServiceNow data from preferred analytics tools like Tableau, Power BI, and Excel, and use CData solutions to integrate ServiceNow data with their database or data warehouse.
Getting Started
Configure ServiceNow Connectivity for Tableau Cloud
Connectivity to ServiceNow from Tableau Cloud is made possible through CData Connect Cloud. To work with ServiceNow data from Tableau Cloud, we start by creating and configuring a ServiceNow connection.
- Log into Connect Cloud, click Connections and click Add Connection
- Select "ServiceNow" from the Add Connection panel
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Enter the necessary authentication properties to connect to ServiceNow.
ServiceNow uses the OAuth 2.0 authentication standard. To authenticate using OAuth, you will need to register an OAuth app with ServiceNow to obtain the OAuthClientId and OAuthClientSecret connection properties. In addition to the OAuth values, you will need to specify the Instance, Username, and Password connection properties.
See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for a guide on connecting to ServiceNow.
- Click Create & Test
- Navigate to the Permissions tab in the Add ServiceNow Connection page and update the User-based permissions.
Add a Personal Access Token
If you are connecting from a service, application, platform, or framework that does not support OAuth authentication, you can create a Personal Access Token (PAT) to use for authentication. Best practices would dictate that you create a separate PAT for each service, to maintain granularity of access.
- Click on your username at the top right of the Connect Cloud app and click User Profile.
- On the User Profile page, scroll down to the Personal Access Tokens section and click Create PAT.
- Give your PAT a name and click Create.
- The personal access token is only visible at creation, so be sure to copy it and store it securely for future use.
With the connection configured, you are ready to connect to ServiceNow data from Tableau Cloud.
Visualize Live ServiceNow Data in Tableau Cloud
The steps below outline creating a new data source in Tableau Cloud based on the virtual ServiceNow database in Connect Cloud and building a simple visualization from the data.
- Log into Tableau Cloud, select a account, and create a new workbook.
- In the new workbook, choose the Microsoft SQL Server Connector from the data wizard and fill in the values for your Connect Cloud instance.
- Set Server to tds.cdata.com,14333
- Set Database to the ServiceNow connection you created (e.g. ServiceNow1)
- Set Username to your Connect Cloud username (e.g. [email protected])
- Set Password to a PAT for the above user
- Check the Require SSL checkbox
- Select your newly created database and the table(s) you wish to visualize (defining relationships for JOINad tables as needed).
- Select Dimensions and Measures and configure your visualization.


Real-Time Access to ServiceNow Data from Cloud Applications
At this point, you have a direct, cloud-to-cloud connection to live ServiceNow data from your Tableau Cloud workbook. You can create new visualizations, build dashboards, and more, with no need to publish data sources and workbooks from Tableau Desktop. For more information on gaining live access to data from more than 100 SaaS, Big Data, and NoSQL sources from cloud applications like Tableau Cloud, refer to our Connect Cloud page.