25% to 50% of software licenses are not regularly used. In fact, IT teams are aware of only a third of apps used due to decentralized ownership and sourcing, leading to SaaS sprawl, shadow IT, and other problems that undermine efficiency and skyrocket software expenses.
But there is a solution: the ServiceNow-GitHub integration. This integration automates license tracking and reclamation, helping reduce costs and ensure compliance. But what does it consist of? What ServiceNow modules are involved? Which GitHub platforms play a role? In today’s article, we’ll break down everything you need to know about this integrated solution.
What Is the ServiceNow-GitHub Integration?
The ServiceNow-GitHub integration aims to automate the management of GitHub repositories, users, and licenses through ServiceNow’s Software Asset Manager (SAM). However, thanks to the last Xanadu update, this integration has two possibilities. These are:
- ServiceNow + GitHub Enterprise Server: Helps track and manage GitHub Server instances, repositories, and licenses, automating asset management directly within ServiceNow.
- ServiceNow + GitHub Enterprise Cloud: Designed to work with GitHub Cloud, enabling management of cloud-hosted repositories and user access while tracking usage and licenses in ServiceNow.
In short terms, both integrations help organizations optimize license utilization and ensure compliance, automating subscription tracking and generating insights for better license governance. However, they have their differences. So, in the following sections, we’ll analyze GitHub Enterprise Server and Cloud to better understand these two possible integrations.
What Is GitHub Enterprise Server?
GitHub Enterprise Server is a self-hosted version of GitHub designed for organizations that require full control over their digital environments. It provides advanced features for software development, collaboration, and security. Some of the operational features are:
- GitHub Actions for CI/CD automation.
- Advanced code security.
- Integration options with Enterprise Cloud.
- Host software packages for enterprises.
On the other hand, GitHub Enterprise Server also supports high availability, repository caching, and private environments for enhanced reliability and control.
What Is GitHub Enterprise Cloud?
GitHub Enterprise Cloud is a cloud-based deployment option for businesses, offering advanced features tailored for large enterprises and teams. Additionally, it provides the option to host a company’s data in a specific region on a unique subdomain. Its capabilities include:
- SAML authentication.
- Additional GitHub Actions minutes.
- Restriction of email notifications to verified domains, and privately published GitHub Pages sites.
- Managed user accounts.
- Repository rulesets.
- Compliance reports.
What is the difference between ServiceNow integration with GitHub Enterprise Server and Cloud?
The main difference between these two ServiceNow-GitHub integrations lies in the hosting (cloud vs. self-hosted). However, there are many others. But, to simplify this and save you some time, we summarized them in the following table:
| GitHub Enterprise Cloud | GitHub Enterprise Server | |
| Deployment | Cloud-hosted repositories | On-premise/self-hosted repositories |
| API Endpoint | Connects via GitHub’s cloud API | Custom server API endpoint |
| Permissions Required | OAuth scopes such as repo, read:org, and write:org | Requires site_admin scope for full access to server resources. |
| User Role | Organization Owner | Site Administrator |
| User Activity Analysis | Up to 60 days of data | Up to one year of data |
| Communication | MID Server optional | MID Server often required |
Benefits of ServiceNow-GitHub integration
- Optimized License Utilization: Tracks active licenses and subscription usage to ensure efficient allocation and prevent over-provisioning.
- Improved Compliance: Automates license monitoring to align with organizational policies and avoid non-compliance risks.
- Centralized Data: Consolidates GitHub Enterprise Cloud license data within ServiceNow for a single source of truth.
- Automated Subscription Management: Simplifies tracking and renewal of GitHub Enterprise Cloud subscriptions.
- Actionable Insights: Provides analytics to optimize costs and plan future licensing needs effectively.
Use Cases for ServiceNow-GitHub Integration
- Automating Software Lifecycle Management: Synchronizing GitHub repositories with ServiceNow to manage software versions, licenses, and compliance data in real time.
- Tracking Software Deployments: Linking GitHub commits to ServiceNow incidents, change requests, or problem records for better tracking and transparency.
- Optimizing IT Operations: Automating software asset discovery and usage tracking to ensure compliance and reduce waste.
- Improving Developer Collaboration: Integrating code changes and development workflows with SAM to streamline collaboration across teams.
ServiceNow-GitHub Integration: A Remedy for SaaS Sprawl
Nowadays, modern business ecosystems face a big problem: SaaS Sprawl. By adopting many applications without centralized management, many areas start using their own SaaS tools independently. This leads to a fragmented software ecosystem, promoting data silos and skyrocketing software expenses in similar or even irrelevant tools.
However, the ServiceNow-GitHub integration is an efficient solution for this growing problem in two ways. First, by providing visibility into software subscriptions and usage, it’s easy to identify underutilized licenses. On the other hand, centralizing license tracking and management within ServiceNow allows for to reduction of redundancy, lowers costs, and mitigates security risks.
Cloud Integration: An essential for AI adoption
As we have said in the past, the increasing adoption of AI tools has led to SaaS sprawl and other problems. This is mostly due to a misbelief: that AI just needs to be taken out of the box to start working. However, this is not close to reality. Whether AI agents or common chatbots, they all depend on easy access to data and information to function, and their performance suffers in the face of fragmented systems and data silos.
That’s why Cloud integration is vital, since it enables seamless data flow, supports scalability, and fosters interoperability between systems. However, the ServiceNow-GitHub integration has the particularity that enhances AI-driven decision-making by streamlining SaaS license management, optimizing resource usage, and automating compliance tasks.
This reduces inefficiencies and strengthens the foundation for AI-powered insights, ensuring businesses can maximize the value of their digital and AI investments. However, the integration process is not easy, since these are not low-code platforms. But don’t worry. At Inclusion Cloud we can help you. Let’s meet and find integrated solutions for your business AI adoption.
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