Why Does My ServiceNow Connection Take a Long Time to Sync?

Question

Why does my ServiceNow connection take longer than expected to complete a sync?

Environment

Connector: ServiceNow

Answer

Several factors can influence your ServiceNow connection's sync time. Below are common causes and recommendations to improve sync performance.

ServiceNow API errors

During each sync, the connector queries up to 10,000 records in tables that include a sys_updated_on or sys_created_on column. If the ServiceNow API responds with an error, we reduce the maximum number of records we query by 50% and repeat this process until we receive a successful response. We then gradually increase the batch size in future syncs.

This retry logic helps maintain sync continuity but can increase the overall sync time when multiple retries are needed.

Unindexed filter columns

We filter ServiceNow data using columns like sys_updated_on or sys_created_on. If these columns are not indexed on large or frequently updated tables, queries can run slowly and may result in sync timeouts.

To reduce API query time and improve performance, we recommend working with your ServiceNow administrator to add indexes to these columns where needed. To learn more, see ServiceNow's documentation on creating indexes.

Reimport tables

We fully reimport tables that lack the necessary columns for incremental updates. The frequency with which we update these tables depends on how fast we can get the data from ServiceNow. As a result, reimport tables may take longer to sync. For more information, see our documentation on ServiceNow reimport tables.

If a reimport table significantly increases your sync time and isn't critical, consider excluding it from your connection schema or including it in a separate connection's schema.