CMDB Categories

[val_k]

@Chuck Tomasi @scott.lemm 

I want to revive this old discussion: https://community.servicenow.com/community?id=community_question&sys_id=87e0dba9dbdcdbc01dcaf3231f96...

With designing CSDM framework we came to a need of using Category/Subcategory on certain CI Classes. The constrain is that this functionality only allows one record of Category/Subcategory per CI class (linear relationships). However, we need to differentiate records in the same table, therefore a need for multiple Subcategories per CI class.

Anyone can give the history of CMDB Categories and how they are used in the core system? Just want to understand the impact, should we decide to overwrite OOTB design of CMDB Categories.

[Ed Laar1]

Hi, What is the use case you are struggeling with? Ed

[val_k]

Hi Ed,

Presently we are working on loading Capabilities from an external source. However, they come in 2 flavours - business and technical. Using Category/Subcategory structure will help to avoid another custom attribute in that table. 

Additionally, the value of multiple Category/Subcategory structure per one CI table is in helping to differentiate among CIs in the same class that are used in different operational scenarios. One of the use case I came across before is having majority of Windows servers supported by one team, while a small subset of them was used in a specific security function, therefore supported by another team.

Another use case is to differentiate between SAN and NAS storage devices, as there are different CI owners and support team for each of these types.

Current structure of one Category/Subcategory value per CI class is really mirroring the Class by itself.

But I suspect there was some reasoning behind this Category/Subcategory structure functionality when it was initially introduced.

[Barry Kant]

Hi,

categorizations logic is a pretty old concept and for very good usage if a service model is not sufficient/mature. This was when logical layer was not used on ticket creation (no business service, or business service offering, but registration on CI) It shows the capabilities/support areas per class right. 

That helps in initial troubleshooting/routing were tickets from end-users likely have no in-dept knowledge of downstream components from the application level. 

I doubt if categorization is needed for lot's of classes while the ticket registration is on logical level. 

So the question is how to understand the support chain for a particular service, that is from a business service (offering) point of view, and classify the incident for that ticket.

Cheers,

Barry

[val_k]

Thanks Barry, it is my understanding as well. Do you know it there is any OOTB functionality built-in the system on CMDB Category table?