--- sourceDocument: Zurich IT Operations Management sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/zurich/it-operations-management Release : - zurich ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Zurich IT Operations Management ft:clusterId : - itom bundleId : - itom workflow : - Technology --- # ITOM Visibility # ITOM Visibility {#ariaid-title1} * Release version: Zurich * * Updated July 31, 2025 * * ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 4 minutes to read Summarize ![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) Summarized using AI This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. ## Summary of ITOM Visibility ServiceNow ITOM Visibility provides a comprehensive suite of tools---including Discovery, Service Mapping, Certificate Inventory and Management, Service Graph Connectors, CMDB 360, and Firewall Audits and Reporting---that enable enterprises and cloud platform providers to discover and understand their entire IT infrastructure and services. This unified visibility into IT resources supports maintaining an accurate Configuration Management Database (CMDB), which is critical for operational efficiency and strategic IT management. Show full answer Show less ## Key Features * **Discovery:** Automatically identifies IT infrastructure components such as computers, servers, software, network devices, cloud resources, and TLS certificates via horizontal discovery, providing foundational data for the CMDB. * **Service Mapping:** Creates top-down maps of application services by identifying dependencies and connections between devices and applications, allowing visualization of service impacts and real-time updates to reflect current infrastructure status. * **Discovery Patterns, Probes, and Sensors:** Uses scripted sequences to detect device and application attributes and connections, ensuring accurate and detailed data collection for CMDB updating. * **Integration with Other ServiceNow Products:** Data from ITOM Visibility feeds ITOM AIOps for proactive service health monitoring, ITOM Optimization for cloud cost and operation management, Software Asset Management for license tracking, Customer Service Management for issue diagnosis, IT Service Management for service delivery, Strategic Portfolio Management for application insight, and Security Operations for risk prioritization. ## Practical Use and Licensing To use ITOM Visibility, customers must activate the Discovery and Service Mapping plugins, requiring an ITOM Visibility subscription. The latest applications can be installed from the ServiceNow Store for full functionality. Users must configure credentials and access permissions to enable discovery and mapping within their network. Licensing is subscription-based and tailored per organizational agreements, with details managed through ServiceNow's licensing framework. ## Benefits for ServiceNow Customers * Gain a unified, accurate, and up-to-date view of IT infrastructure and services to support operational and strategic decision-making. * Improve service health monitoring and incident management through integrated analytics and AI-driven insights. * Optimize cloud and software asset costs with detailed visibility into usage and configurations. * Enhance security posture by contextualizing incidents with real-time infrastructure data. * Facilitate seamless IT service delivery and customer issue resolution using reliable infrastructure data. The ServiceNow® ITOM Visibility product consists of ServiceNow® [Discovery](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/kijzl4kl0jk2aghn7g7JSQ "ServiceNow Discovery is an automated process that continuously scans and identifies all the components within the IT infrastructure. It plays a crucial role in maintaining an accurate and up-to-date CMDB 360 with the information it finds."), ServiceNow® [Service Mapping](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/anIgdz57AxlpSO_alNRyYg "The ServiceNow Service Mapping application discovers all application services in your organization and builds a comprehensive map of all devices, applications, and configuration profiles used in these application services."), Certificate Inventory and Management, Service Graph Connectors, CMDB 360, and Firewall Audits and Reporting. Discovery and Service Mapping give you a unified, connected view of your entire IT network and the services that it supports. ## Who uses ITOM Visibility ITOM Visibility enables the IT departments of enterprises and cloud companies providing platform as a service to discover their IT resources. ServiceNow® Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is not just an operational tool, it is a strategic necessity in today's IT landscape. Maintaining an accurate and complete CMDB provides the foundation for maintaining critical services and drives multiple outcomes important to IT departments. Data collected by ITOM Visibility provides a foundation for operation of the following business units and products of ServiceNow AI Platform: [ITOM AIOps](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/L6Tw6~2IYewvZPXmuVy3Yw "The ServiceNow ITOM AIOps product includes the ServiceNow Event Management and ServiceNow Metric Intelligence applications, which help you track and maintain the health of services in your organization.") : Use ITOM AIOps to track and maintain the health of services in your organization. ITOM AIOps gathers alerts from infrastructure events captured by third-party monitoring tools. It then uses IT-related information gathered by Discovery to map alerts to configuration items. Based on the collected information, ITOM AIOps provides dashboards showing a consolidated view of all service-impact events. You can also use ITOM AIOps to proactively analyze your IT infrastructure to spot issues and prevent service outages. Using advanced machine learning to analyze information about your IT infrastructure, the application automatically determines dynamic thresholds and identifies anomalies that may indicate potential service outages. [ITOM Optimization](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/7olkUxGxf7Y3NU6kZC6Obw "The IT Operations Management (ITOM) Optimization application provides automation for the cloud workflows used to manage the cloud resources throughout their life cycle. It enables certified and enterprise-compliant cloud deployment, cost visibility, and other cloud management processes.") : ITOM Optimization gives you tools to provision private and public cloud infrastructure and services and to achieve consistent management and cost visibility. The [Cloud Insights](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=cloud-insights-landing-page&version=zurich&pubname=zurich-it-asset-management&ft:locale=en-US) application, available in the ServiceNow Store, helps you to analyze the full range of costs associated with cloud assets so you can identify and take action on opportunities to save money and optimize operations. [Software Asset Management](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=c_SoftwareAssetMgmt&version=zurich&pubname=zurich-it-asset-management&ft:locale=en-US) : Understand the software running in your IT environment. Software Asset Management works together with the CMDB powered up by ITOM Visibility. Use Software Asset Management to track configurations that impact software license consumption across your IT environments and datacenter. [Customer Service Management](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=c_CustomerServiceManagement&version=zurich&pubname=zurich-customer-service-management&ft:locale=en-US) : Efficiently diagnose and resolve issues related to the IT infrastructure by using near real-time data supplied by ITOM Visibility. [IT Service Management](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=r_ITServiceManagement&version=zurich&pubname=zurich-it-service-management&ft:locale=en-US) : Rely on the IT infrastructure discovered by ITOM Visibility to manage and deliver services to your users. See changes and incidents created and managed by IT Service Management applications in ITOM Visibility service maps. [Strategic Portfolio Management](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=r_ITBusinessManagement&version=zurich&pubname=zurich-it-business-management&ft:locale=en-US) : Use data collected by ITOM Visibility to gain a comprehensive understanding of the applications used in your organization. [Security Operations](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=security-operations-landing-page&version=zurich&pubname=zurich-security-management&ft:locale=en-US) : View security incidents in the context of ITOM Visibility to find out which application services are at risk. Use this information to prioritize and resolve threats based on the impact they pose to your organization. ## How you use ITOM Visibility {#itom-visibility-landing-page__section_grz_vlb_4kb} The Discovery feature offers a replicable and reliable method of identifying the enterprise IT infrastructure. Discovery can find computers, servers, software, printers, routers, and switches. It can also find IP-enabled devices and applications that run on them, resources from various cloud providers, and TLS certificates. This method is referred to as horizontal discovery. Connections between the devices and applications are not included in horizontal discovery. The Service Mapping feature maps dependencies, based on a connection between devices and applications. This method is referred to as top-down mapping. The top-down mapping helps you immediately see the impact of a problematic object on the rest of the application service operation. Application service maps show infrastructure objects and connections between them. Service Mapping regenerates application service maps regularly, to keep them updated and relevant. Any faulty objects are shown along with the devices and applications they affect, providing a visual clue of the state of the application service. Figure 1. Comparison of horizontal discovery and top-down mapping results ## How ITOM Visibility works {#itom-visibility-landing-page__section_gqf_wlb_4kb} Discovery can use scripts to collect and process data on a host and then update the CMDB. Scripts that explore or investigate CIs on your network are called probes. Sensors are the scripts that parse the data returned from the probes. In addition, Discovery uses discovery patterns. A pattern is a sequence of operations whose purpose is to detect attributes of devices and applications and, when used by Service Mapping, their outbound connections. Service Mapping can deploy different methods for creating application services. Discovery patterns are the main method used by Service Mapping. However, you can also map application services using tags, and traffic connections between devices and applications. For more information, see [Choose the right method for mapping application services](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/7CGkomisFcNQrvW4KyiKrw "Service Mapping deploys different methods for collecting information about configuration items (CIs) and organizing them into application services. The available mapping methods are: pattern-based, tag-based, traffic-based, and discovery based on Predictive Intelligence. Learn about the mapping methods to use the ones that best suit the needs of your organization."). ## ITOM Visibility licensing {#itom-visibility-landing-page__section_bs4_x3n_hcc} The ServiceNow AI Platform® uses a licensing method where your organization is billed for using ITOM Visibility applications. Licensing options can vary based on your organization's agreement. The ServiceNow Product Documentation doesn't provide information on prices, packaging, or other details determined by your organization customer contract. For general information about licensing and subscriptions, see [ITOM/OT SU Licensing and subscriptions](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/V1UFvNPOsdyNH06hubGnwA "ServiceNow IT Operations Management (ITOM) licensing calculates and displays the usage of ITOM subscriptions based on subscription units."). ## What to know before you begin {#itom-visibility-landing-page__section_nzk_wlb_4kb} ITOM Visibility is available with activation of the Discovery (com.snc.discovery) plugin and the Service Mapping (com.snc.service-mapping) plugin, which require an ITOM Visibility subscription. For details, see [Request Discovery](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/f8m74GOsFYCslhZ0a~GcCg "Request and activate the Discovery (com.snc.discovery) plugin to enable Discovery capabilities on your instance.") and [Request Service Mapping](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/j2bM4ehmjm5jNYf~yrN69g "Service Mapping is available under the ITOM Visibility subscription and requires activation by ServiceNow personnel."). For full ITOM Visibility functionality, install the latest ITOM Visibility applications from the ServiceNow Store. For cumulative release note information for all released apps, see the ServiceNow Store version history release notes. Define users and configure credentials to enable ITOM Visibility access to applications and devices inside your organization network. For details, see [Prerequisites for performing top-down discovery using Service Mapping](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/SsqKft8SiEVwftVNqlBmlQ "Learn about credentials, users, and user permissions you must configure to let Service Mapping access and discover applications inside your organization private network.").