Automation of Incident assignment

[ShahfaKP]

Hello,

My customer doesn't have CMDB configuration done and we are preparing a POC to tackle some incident triaging issues. Currently they are following manual assignment of incidents. SNOW is integrated with CRM for logging tickets and dynatrace for monitoring alerts and automatically generated incidents. 

We need to automate the incident assignment to the right assignment groups based on the best reference value. We can opt for category or configuration item as reference field.what will be best and cost effective ?

What are the prerequisites (since CMDB is yet to be configured) and steps to be taken in detail ?

Any lead regards to this is highly appreciated 

Thanks! 

[Sandeep Rajput]

@ShahfaKP Since your CMDB is not yet configured, I am assuming the support group field on the configuration items is also not configured yet. In such a case, you can create assignment rules to trigger on the basis of the category field. Once your CMDB is fully configured, you can use the support group field on the CI to route your incidents automatically to the CI support group.

Hope this helps.

[ShahfaKP]

Thanks for the suggestion.

What are the consideration to be done to configure CMDB?

And once it's setup, how do I go about configuring it based on the support group on CI?

[Sandeep Rajput]

@ShahfaKP 

Configuring the CMDB (Configuration Management Database) in ServiceNow requires careful planning and consideration of various factors to ensure that the CMDB aligns with your organization's needs and objectives. Here are the key considerations to keep in mind:

### 1. **Define Objectives and Scope**
- **Business Goals**: Clearly define why the CMDB is being implemented and what you expect to achieve (e.g., better incident/problem resolution, improved change management, audit and compliance, etc.).
- **Scope**: Decide what configuration items (CIs) will be tracked. You may want to start small (e.g., servers, applications) and expand over time.

### 2. **Data Model and Structure**
- **CI Classes and Subclasses**: Identify the key CI types (servers, network devices, applications, etc.) and their relationships. ServiceNow comes with predefined CI classes based on the Common Service Data Model (CSDM), which can be customized based on your requirements.
- **Relationships**: Plan and define the relationships between CIs (e.g., "runs on," "depends on"). This is critical for understanding service dependencies and the impact of changes.
- **Attributes**: Determine the key attributes (e.g., OS type, IP address, serial number) that need to be tracked for each CI class. Avoid capturing too many unnecessary attributes.

### 3. **CMDB Data Sources**
- **Discovery and Service Mapping**: ServiceNow's Discovery tool can automatically populate the CMDB with accurate data from your infrastructure. Service Mapping can help in understanding how applications and services are delivered across the environment.
- **Third-party Integrations**: Identify any external tools (e.g., SCCM, AWS, Azure) that you want to integrate with the CMDB for data ingestion.
- **Manual Data Entry**: Ensure there is a process for manually adding or updating CIs when necessary.

### 4. **Data Accuracy and Quality**
- **Governance Process**: Establish a process for keeping the CMDB data up-to-date, including regular audits and clean-ups. Poor data quality can lead to incorrect decision-making.
- **Reconciliation and Normalization**: Use ServiceNow's **Identification and Reconciliation Engine (IRE)** to reconcile data from multiple sources and avoid duplicate or conflicting records.
- **Data Accuracy Metrics**: Define KPIs to monitor the accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of your CMDB data.

### 5. **Security and Access Control**
- **User Access**: Define who can view, add, modify, and delete CIs. You may need to restrict access based on user roles and departments.
- **Auditing**: Ensure there is an audit trail to track who made changes to the CMDB, particularly for critical or sensitive CIs.
- **Data Encryption**: Consider encrypting sensitive CMDB data, especially if it contains business-critical information.

### 6. **Alignment with ITSM and Other Processes**
- **Change Management**: Ensure the CMDB is integrated with change management so that updates to CIs are reflected when changes occur.
- **Incident, Problem, and Asset Management**: Make sure the CMDB is used effectively to resolve incidents, identify problems, and manage assets.
- **Operational Level Agreements (OLAs) and Service Level Agreements (SLAs)**: Use the CMDB to monitor service levels and ensure agreements are met.

### 7. **Common Service Data Model (CSDM) Adoption**
- **CSDM Framework**: Align your CMDB with the **Common Service Data Model (CSDM)**, which provides a standardized framework for CMDB data. This helps improve service mapping, reporting, and governance.
- **Service Offering and Business Services**: Ensure that your CMDB supports services and offerings defined under the CSDM framework for better service delivery management.

### 8. **Automated Maintenance and Health**
- **Health Dashboard**: Use CMDB **Health Dashboard** to monitor data completeness, compliance, and correctness. This dashboard provides insight into the state of your CMDB.
- **Scheduled Jobs**: Use scheduled jobs to automate CMDB health checks, data cleanups, and stale record identification.

### 9. **Governance and Ownership**
- **CMDB Ownership**: Establish clear ownership for managing the CMDB (e.g., a dedicated CMDB Manager or Configuration Manager).
- **Data Stewards**: Assign data stewards for different CI classes who are responsible for data quality and accuracy.
- **Policy and Process Documentation**: Create and maintain CMDB policies and processes to ensure consistent data entry, updates, and maintenance.

### 10. **Training and User Adoption**
- **Training**: Ensure that all relevant users, including IT staff and stakeholders, are trained on how to use the CMDB.
- **Documentation**: Provide clear, accessible documentation on how to add, update, and manage CIs.
- **User Adoption**: Promote the CMDB as a valuable tool across teams and demonstrate how it supports key processes like incident, problem, and change management.

### 11. **Reporting and Metrics**
- **Custom Dashboards**: Configure dashboards and reports to provide visibility into the health and status of the CMDB, as well as trends in data accuracy, CI lifecycles, and relationships.
- **KPIs and Metrics**: Track KPIs such as:
- Percentage of CIs with accurate attributes.
- Number of stale or orphaned CIs.
- CI impact on incidents or changes.

### 12. **Ongoing Maintenance and Continuous Improvement**
- **Regular Reviews**: Schedule periodic reviews of your CMDB configuration and data to ensure it remains aligned with your organization’s evolving needs.
- **Continuous Improvement**: Plan for continuous improvement initiatives that will enhance the CMDB over time, such as expanding the scope of tracked CIs, improving discovery tools, or adding more integrations.

### 13. **Compliance and Regulatory Requirements**
- **Compliance Reporting**: Ensure the CMDB meets any internal or external compliance requirements, such as GDPR, ISO standards, or specific industry regulations.
- **Audit Trails**: Implement auditing capabilities for sensitive or high-impact CIs to track changes and maintain compliance.

By considering these aspects, you can configure a CMDB that meets your organization’s needs, supports key IT processes, and maintains high data quality and reliability.

When configuring the CMDB in ServiceNow based on the Support Group associated with a Configuration Item (CI), you're essentially ensuring that the correct support teams are aligned with each CI. This allows you to route incidents, changes, and other ITSM processes to the appropriate groups based on the CI being impacted or involved.

[ShahfaKP]

Thanks for your prompt response,

Once CMDB is configured, what are the steps for automating the assignment based on the CI support group? Using an assignment rule or client script or data lookup or business rule or anything else?