Adding CIs manually to Tag-based Application Services

[Johannes]

A lot of our Application Services are Tag-based.

Some of them should also include CIs where external tags are not present, and the CIs are not possible to engulf using Traversal Rules (like Solaris servers).

The "Tag Governance" app is to my knowledge not an app that can effectively be used for this, and giving users write access to the cmdb_key_value is not a good option, as this allows users to pick any (wrong) CI. 

My initial thought is to create a simple app that allows users to first pick CIs (and in my example, only from the Solaris server class, maybe also only the CIs where the user is part of any of the groups on the CI), list some attributes like IP, serial number etc. (to make them more aware of what CIs they actually have chosen), and then give them the possibility to fill inn the key/values they want.

For clean-up, I guess I should have some automation removing the key/value-records when e.g. the "Operational Status = Retired", "Most Recent Discovery > X days" or similar.

But before I do this, maybe somebody else has done this already, and would like to share their experience?

(Is this maybe something you have coming for "Tag Governance" @Ram Devanathan1?)

[s-jacobs]

Hi @Johannes, sounds like a catalog item, or simple app, like you mention might be a good approach. Take a look at the "TBM Acclerator." That might be able to be tweaked to fit your needs and do some automation with it. 

[Pratiksha]

We encountered a scenario where we needed to create maps for network devices that couldn't be handled using traditional Service Mapping. To address this, we developed a custom interface that allows users to upload an Excel sheet. The interface searches for the corresponding CIs in the CMDB and, based on the input, automatically creates relevant tags.

We’ve also implemented automation so that once the request is submitted, the maps are generated in a non-operational state. After review and validation, the maps are transitioned to operational.

The next part focuses on tag management. Our logic ensures that whenever a CI is retired, the associated tags are automatically removed, keeping the data clean and up to date.

This approach has been working well for us! That said, we’re still looking forward to enhanced support from ServiceNow for Service Mapping tailored specifically to telecom networks.

Hope this helps.

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Regards, 

Pratiksha