What is Dynamic CI Group

[miyu]

Please tell me what I can do by creating a Dynamic CI Group, I am confused as to the use of a Dynamic CI Group and how it differs from a CMDB Group.

[Community Alums]

Hi @miyu ,

A Dynamic CI group is a dynamic grouping of configuration items (CIs), based on some common criteria. For example, you can create a dynamic CI group based on the location of all web servers in Detroit or all Oracle databases in Boston.

You might want to use Dynamic CI groups in the following situations:

• As a query-based application service

  You don’t have Service Mapping enabled yet, but you have 12 servers and 3 database instances in MyAppServiceProd. You can delete your spreadsheets and use a Dynamic CI group as an application service.

• As a managed group of Infrastructure CIs

  The web servers in Detroit are managed by the DetroitRockCity Technical Service Offering. You don't need to manually create relationships from Technical Service Offerings to Infrastructure CIs. You can use a Dynamic CI group. A single relationship from your Technical Service Offering CI (DetroitRockCity) to your Dynamic CI Group (web servers in Detroit) gives you the visibility you need.

• As a way to manage patches for your CIs

  In Change Management, you can select the Dynamic CI group for the CIs you need to update and use a business rule to auto populate the Affected CI field.

[Brian Lancaster]

Do you have event management. Looks like Dynamic CI Groups are related to Event management and CMDB Groups are related to cmdb activities. 

[s4scott]

A good use case for Dynamic CI groups to relate it to a Technical Service Offering. For example, you could create two CMDB Groups for workstations and printers that queries for all of those devices supported by a desktop support team at an office location. Then assign that CMDB group to a Dynamic CI group that is associated to a Technical Service Offering of Desktop Services at that Office location.
That allows you to open INC on the technical service offering (let's be realistic, how many people know the host name of their PC or printer?)  and still propagate impact in Event and Change from the device level up to the technical service offering. It also enables the use of SLAs against the offering similar to what you can create for Application Service CIs.

[CMDB Whisperer]

The Dynamic CI Group actually utilizes the CMDB Group for filtering but then exposes the results as an actual CI, whereas a CMDB Group isn't actually a CI.  The Dynamic CI Group in practice is treated as a logical system of similar or related CIs that are typically the focus of a Technical Service Offering.  One of the main benefits is that ServiceNow will cascade the Group assignment from the Technical Service Offering down to the individual CIs in the Dynamic CI Group which will help with many things including routing of Incidents, Changes, Vulnerabilities, etc.