CMDB basic questions

[Mariana Elena G]

Hi guys, I'm new administrating and trying to build from the scratch the CMDB of my company. And I have 3 questions maybe basics for you, but I hope you help me to answer or give me a guideline so I can move on.

1. I've have being working in the CI's by discovery of Network (but bassicaly is Infrastructure items), is it possible to configure CI's for datalinks/circuits?

2. To stablish the Governance for the CMDB (maintenance CMDB process, roles, policys, rules, etc) I'm guessing that what I stablish are the rules to follow to all the next CI's and relationships that will be created. In theory I know that all this could be done by heritage, but if one element needs an update in the rules or something, can it be done? and does it affect all?

3. Once I stablish the CI's for all the Infrastructure items, do I have to wait until Cloud integration is done to start doing Application configuration CI's and build relationships or I can do it all in parallel?

Thank you in advance 🙂

[CMDB Whisperer]

1. Network Circuit is the CI class you are looking for.  In order to use it, however, you may need to install the CMDB CI Class Models plugin (you should keep this up to date every month or so to get the latest CI Classes!)  This is a fairly new CI class, after being notoriously missing from the data model for many, many years.  It may or may not have the attributes you need, so you may need to customize the data model, but if you can make it fit logically you should stay out-of-box if possible.  The CI relationships are not defined, and the CI is not discoverable, so you will need to populate the attributes manually or import from a trusted data source.

2. There are a few things to discuss here, and I am not sure exactly where your focus is in the question, but I will try to provide some helpful hints.  First, you should approach the CMDB from a process perspective first.  That process is Configuration Management.  Configuration Management involves planning, identification, control, and verification activities.  The Configuration Management Plan is a living document that states the information, tools, and methods that are used to identify, control, and verify your CMDB data according to the business goals and objectives for the scope of IT services that are being managed.  From a technology perspective, the CMDB Health module provides several tools and metrics that can be used as part of your governance methodology.  As for the CI Class Model inheritance, yes much of the configuration in the platform -- data model, client scripts, UI policies, business rules, identification rules, health inclusion rules, etc. -- is inherited from parent class to child class, and some of these you can configure whether the inheritance occurs or not, or choose to override behaviors.  One could write a book on all this, and I won't do that, but if you are new to the platform and to the process I would definitely suggest diving in and learning as much as you can!  If you're interested in some light reading about configuration management, check out this article: CMDB on a Shoestring 

3. The order in which your CIs are populated is not set in stone.  Some start at the top, defining their Business Applications and Application Services, and work their way down; others start at the bottom, with Discovery, and work their way up to Application Services and Business Applications, then on to Technical and Business Services/Offerings (this is more common).  I would start by getting to know the Common Service Data Model so that even if you aren't ready with all of your data, you have a good plan for how it all should line up.

I hope this is helpful and best of luck on your CMDB journey!

[Mary Vanatta1]

Hello Mariana

We have some great assets for you to use to help you set up and maintain your CMDB.  ServiceNow has a site called "Now Create."  This was designed for customers that are self-implementing or partners who need project materials.  These assets are used by ServiceNow Expert Services when they implement!  Now Create has process/implementation guides, workshop decks, preparation checklists, kickoff presentations. All the things you need to be successful in setting up and maintaining a CMDB, just search on the term CMDB!  If you find this helpful please give me thumbs up below and set the best answer to solved.  Feel free to ask follow up questions on this thread! 

Answers to some of your questions: 
1. I've have being working in the CI's by discovery of Network (but basically is Infrastructure items), is it possible to configure CI's for datalinks/circuits?  Not sure what you mean here. Are you asking if it is possible to discover datalinks and circuits? Discovery won't automatically add circuit data.  Discovery discovers IP based devices that have a shell and can be interrogated (via a few common methods).   You can import them into the cmdb with a import set using IRE, the data will need tables (CI Class tables) to hold that data.   Make sure you download the latest CMDB CI Class Models  (the plugin as mentioned above) from the   Store
Here is more info on Network inventory classes


2. To establish the Governance for the CMDB (maintenance CMDB process, roles, policys, rules, etc) I'm guessing that what I establish are the rules to follow to all the next CI's and relationships that will be created. In theory I know that all this could be done by heritage, but if one element needs an update in the rules or something, can it be done? and does it affect all?  You will establish documentation on roles, responsibilities, processes on choosing to discover or populate new classes (at first you may not want to discover storage servers, but choose to at a later time, document this process.  Document health and maintenance processes, data certification, and data management using tools within ServiceNow.  See the Configuration Charter link and the Governance deck above).  Document how often you are checking the dashboards, what is the process and who is going to fix the issues (duplicates, stales and orphans and things that need retired)
ServiceNow creates the relationships between the CIs when using ServiceNow Discovery and that is already documented in the system, don't try to document this.  For relationships between logical CIs (things not discoverable), use the prescribed relationships in the CSDM documentation.  As mentioned above, ServiceNow CMDB has a CI Class Manager and there are parent/child considerations. For example, if you have Windows Servers and Linux Servers, if you make a change on Servers, those changes will be inherited.  Pretty much what CMDB Whisperer spoke of.   However, I have found ServiceNow to handle creating what it needs to work right out of the box.  I would say if you create something custom then document it and the reason why. 

3. Once I establish the CI's for all the Infrastructure items, do I have to wait until Cloud integration is done to start doing Application configuration CI's and build relationships or I can do it all in parallel?  First you will discover your principal CIs (see the process guide, workshop deck, etc)  Then you will populated your Application Services (logical component based on human knowledge) following CSDM guidance, there are some slides in the CSDM Workshop decks that will help guide you.  While you are aligning to CSDM and getting your services aligned to CSDM, on a parallel technical workstream, you can in use  ServiceNow Cloud Discovery to bring in your Cloud resources (VMWare, Azure and AWS).   (This may be a second phase following your configuration management and governance to determine when and what you are bringing into the CMDB) Here I suggest looking at using Tags and Tag Governance. 
Once that is all down you are ready to map the CIs to your Services using one of the 5 Approaches to Take on your Service Mapping Journey .


Links and Resources

Here is a list of resources to help you out.  Click if this has been helpful and feel free to reach out again on this thread if you have more questions! 
CMDB - Process Guide

CSDM Overview
CSDM Whitepaper

CMDB Governance
Configuration Control Board Charter
Configuration Management Roles and Responsibilities
CMDB - Process Workshop
CMDB - Customer Workshop Preparation

CMDB - Starter Stories
CSDM Getting Started Workshop

Article: CMDB - 3 Pillars to Successful Data Foundations
Article: 5 Steps to Monitor CMDB Health Proactively
CMDB Data Manager
CMDB Data Certification
CMDB Health Configuration
Video – Data Foundations and CMDB Health Dashboard Review
Video - CMDB Best Practices
 CMDB Product Documentation