CMDB Class for Water supply and mains power

[ayman_h]

Hi all,

We have a requirement where we want to raise an incident if the water supply to a building is out or if the mains power supply is cut off. We would like to track these as CIs so that we can report against them.

Does anyone have best practice guidance on whether these should be created as a custom CI class for utilities, or if they are better modelled as standalone Technical Services?

Thanks,
Ayman

[danesh · Accepted solution]

Model mains power and water supply as Technology Management Services (formerly “Technical Services”) in the Service Portfolio, not as custom CI classes. Use CIs only for the physical utility equipment you actually manage (e.g., generators, UPS, PDUs, pumps, meters) and relate those CIs to the services. This keeps you aligned with CSDM, enables out‑of‑the‑box incident, outage, and service reporting, and avoids customization debt.

Use CIs for things you monitor/maintain:

• Power: Generators, UPS systems, PDUs, transfer switches, distribution panels (DCIM‑related classes are available via the CMDB CI Class Models app and newer releases). 
• Water: Pumps, meters, building automation/IoT gateways you manage.

Relate those CIs under the Technology Management Service (e.g., Building A – Power Supply) so incidents on the service can roll up from CI alerts, and root cause traces to equipment when applicable. 

[Mark Manders]

I think it depends on where you sit in the process. Are you using the buildings and just want to report on water/power outages, or are you the supplier of the utilities? 

Because if you are just a user, I wouldn't put them into the system as a CSDM/CMDB record. But if you are supplying the utilities, I think you should be putting them in as the services you deliver to the buildings.

[AJ-TechTrek]

Hi @ayman_h ,

As per ServiceNow best Practices -

* Instead of a CI, define them as Technical Services (e.g. Power Supply Service, Water Supply Service).
* Associate the Service with the Building (Business Service/Location).
* Benefits:
* Keeps utilities abstracted at the Service level (no need for new CI classes).
* Easier for reporting in Service Portfolio / Service Health.
* Users can raise incidents against a service instead of a “pipe” or “cable”.

 Best if you want a high-level “service outage view” without granular CI tracking.

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[Dr Atul G- LNG]

Hi @ayman_h 

CSDM 5.0 is almost ready, and I would say the core of CSDM is its definitions. Your use case is good, but to determine what needs to go where, you need to refer to these definitions. I would suggest going through the white paper and task decisions, and then check whether what you decide matches the definitions as per CSDM.