Have you ever cleaned out a closet, a desk, a refrigerator or some other repository after a long period of not doing so? Have you ever done this and not found at least one thing that made you scratch your head in wonder about its origins, its purpose or both? ("I don't even remember buying/requesting/using that…")
After some period of chagrin, you perhaps committed (or recommitted) to never letting so much time elapse before repeating this purging process. Or to never obtaining something without tracking its utility and disposing of it when that utility is exhausted. Or both. And then, after some time passes, likely as not, you repeat the purging process and go through the same steps all over again.
NOT my desk! (Image source: www.theservicedoffice.co.uk)
Where your closet, desk or refrigerator is concerned, this is, in the grand scheme of things, merely annoying and sometimes amusing. But what about where your enterprise's critical IT assets or custom applications are concerned?
If you were to poll your IT colleagues in an attempt to inventory any critical assets or custom applications, the odds are great that you would get different answers from every respondent. And that all of them would be wrong.
It may be arguable that you can't manage what you can't measure. But it's incontrovertible that you can't manage what you can't see and about which you don't know enough.
That's why a critical first step in transforming IT is gathering and maintaining a complete, accurate and up-to-date inventory of all critical IT assets. And an equally critical first step in enterprise transformation is assessing the real business value of every custom application.
For IT assets,ServiceNow Discovery is designed to identify an enterprise's Internet Protocol (IP)-enabled devices, to map their interdependencies and to keep the ServiceNow Configuration Management Database populated with that information. It can be configured to update this information regularly and automatically, to identify and interrogate custom devices and applications, and to federate easily with other data sources. And of course, it integrates seamlessly with other ServiceNow applications and solutions, such as Asset Management, Configuration Management and IT Operations Management.
Where custom applications are concerned, the discovery process can be a bit trickier. After all, many enterprises have hundreds, if not thousands of such applications, built with tools ranging from Lotus Notes to Microsoft SharePoint. In addition, there are likely many critical processes within and beyond IT that should be supported by custom apps but are now conducted manually. And sticky notes, spreadsheets used as notepads and e-mail messages are beyond even ServiceNow Discovery's powers to unearth.
Some additional effort is therefore required. But that effort is more than worthwhile. Because enterprise IT users, customers and partners all want more modern, consumerized interactions, and enterprises benefit from greater automation, consolidation and consistency. All of which are enabled by better custom applications. And getting rid of those that are no longer delivering much or any business value can help to cut costs and IT support burdens. Another critical step in moving an enterprise — perhaps your enterprise — further away from outmoded approaches to IT and closer to the goal of enterprise-wide service relationship management.
All of this and more is why comprehensive, automated and accurate discovery and management of the inventory of your enterprise's IT assets and custom applications are critical. So if you aren't already doing so, put ServiceNow Discovery to work for you in support of your efforts to manage IT assets, custom applications and business services more effectively. Then, build upon those successes with other ServiceNow offerings. For more incentive, inspiration and information, check out the ServiceNow Webinar, "Discover, Automate, and Optimize Your IT Infrastructure with ServiceNow." For even more, come to Knowledge14. And keep in mind that "Eureka" isn't just the expected name of the next major ServiceNow release, nor just the name of a city in California. It's what you say when you've discovered something, especially something cool, useful and/or important. Just sayin'…
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