Purpose:
The purpose of this document is to answer most commonly asked questions when configuring APM application in ServiceNow. The questions and the answers are focused on the use case of setting up an application inventory, and do not address other topics such as application assessments.
The following is the list of questions answered in this document.
- What data should we capture for business applications?
- One of the most common questions we receive from APM customers is: Which out-of-the-box (OOB) APM fields should we use? What is the ‘best practice’ or ServiceNow’s guidance on using OOB fields?
- We are already using the application class in ServiceNow to manage our applications. What is the difference between the ‘application’ class and ‘business application’ class?
- What is a business service? We thought applications are business services, is there a difference? How are Business Services and Applications related?
- What data should we track as business applications, and what data should be tracked as business services?
- How do we associate Business Applications to other entities such as business process, business capabilities, and underlying technologies? What relationship types should we use?
- How do we associate a single application that is running different versions at different regions? In Jakarta, there is a one-to-one relationship between business application and software model. Do we need a Business Application record for each version?
- What should be linked to ITSM records like incidents and changes? Business Application record, business service or both?
- If SAM and Service Mapping are not being used, what is the best way to create relationships between Business Applications and underlying technology components (these could be infrastructure or application related components).
- How do other organizations ensure that application data stays current, and is validated by relevant stakeholders?
Refer to earlier posts of Mark Bodman, Product Manager for APM on Application Inventory.
Application Portfolio Management - Inventory Best Practices
