The ITOM Product Management team is excited to announce that ServiceNow IT Operations Management (ITOM) Discovery now officially supports Alibaba Cloud discovery capabilities. This significant enhancement expands our multi-cloud visibility platform to include one of the world's leading cloud service providers, joining our existing support for AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Oracle Cloud, and IBM Cloud.
Why This Matters
For years, organizations operating in the Asia-Pacific region and those with global hybrid cloud strategies have asked for native Alibaba Cloud support. As one of the fastest-growing cloud platforms globally, Alibaba Cloud serves millions of customers across e-commerce, finance, telecommunications, and manufacturing sectors. Until now, ServiceNow customers managing Alibaba Cloud resources had to rely on third-party integrations or custom solutions to maintain visibility into their cloud infrastructure. With this new capability, ServiceNow customers can now discover, map, and manage their entire multi-cloud ecosystem from a single, unified platform.
Complete Multi-Cloud Discovery Portfolio
ServiceNow Discovery now provides comprehensive support for all major cloud platforms:
Amazon Web Services (AWS) - Industry-leading cloud platform
Microsoft Azure - Enterprise cloud services and solutions
Google Cloud Platform (GCP) - Advanced analytics and machine learning infrastructure
Oracle Cloud - Enterprise applications and database services
IBM Cloud - Hybrid cloud and AI-powered solutions
This complete coverage ensures that, regardless of your cloud strategy, whether single-cloud, multi-cloud, or hybrid, ServiceNow Discovery provides the visibility and control you need.
Key Capabilities of Alibaba Cloud Discovery
Real-Time CMDB Updates
Discovered Alibaba Cloud resources are automatically synchronized to your ServiceNow Configuration Management Database (CMDB), providing:
- Accurate, up-to-date configuration items (CIs)
- Relationship mapping between cloud resources
- Support audit compliance to meet regulatory requirements.
- Integration with ITSM processes for change management and incident response
Dependency Mapping and Service Visualization
ServiceNow Discovery creates comprehensive service maps showing:
- Dependencies between Alibaba Cloud resources
- Cross-cloud relationships for hybrid architectures
- Application-to-infrastructure mapping
- Impact analysis for change planning
Business Benefits
Enhanced Governance and Compliance
Maintain complete visibility into your Alibaba Cloud footprint for regulatory compliance, security audits, and cost management. Automatically track resource configurations and detect unauthorized or non-compliant deployments.
Reduced Operational Complexity
Manage all your cloud resources through a single pane of glass. No more switching between multiple cloud consoles or maintaining separate inventory systems. ServiceNow Discovery provides unified visibility across your entire infrastructure.
Improved Incident Response
When incidents occur, rapid identification of affected resources and their dependencies is critical. With Alibaba Cloud resources in your CMDB, your IT operations teams can quickly assess impact, identify root causes, and coordinate resolution across multi-cloud environments.
Optimized Cloud Costs
Discover and track all Alibaba Cloud resources to identify unused or underutilized assets. Accurate resource inventory enables better capacity planning and cost optimization initiatives.
Accelerated Digital Transformation
For organizations expanding into Asia-Pacific markets or adopting Alibaba Cloud for specific workloads, native discovery support eliminates integration barriers and accelerates cloud adoption initiatives.
Getting Started
ServiceNow customers can begin discovering Alibaba Cloud resources immediately by:
- Configuring Alibaba Cloud credentials - Set up RAM (Resource Access Management) users with appropriate discovery permissions
- Installing or updating your MID Server - Ensure your MID Server is running with the latest release and upgrade the discovery content to the latest content pack with the updated CMDB CI class model store application.
- Create Cloud discovery schedule - Configure Alibaba Cloud discovery schedule
Detailed configuration instructions are available in the ServiceNow ITOM Discovery documentation.
Regional Expansion and Global Coverage
This addition is particularly significant for organizations with operations in:
- China - Where Alibaba Cloud maintains dominant market share
- Southeast Asia - Rapidly growing digital economies
- Middle East and North Africa - Emerging cloud markets
- Global enterprises - With distributed, multi-cloud architectures
Looking Forward
The addition of Alibaba Cloud discovery represents our continued commitment to supporting enterprise multi-cloud strategies. As cloud adoption continues to evolve, ServiceNow remains dedicated to providing comprehensive visibility, automation, and orchestration across all major platforms. We're excited to see how our customers leverage this new capability to enhance their cloud operations, improve governance, and accelerate their digital transformation initiatives.
Learn More
- Documentation: Visit the Alibaba Cloud Discovery documentation
- Community: Join the conversation in the ServiceNow Community ITOM forum
- Support: Contact your ServiceNow account team for implementation guidance
About ServiceNow ITOM Discovery
ServiceNow IT Operations Management (ITOM) Discovery is an enterprise-grade solution that automatically discovers and maps your entire IT infrastructure—from on-premises data centers to multi-cloud environments. By maintaining an accurate, real-time CMDB, Discovery enables better decision-making, faster incident resolution, and improved operational efficiency across your IT organization.
Ready to discover your Alibaba Cloud infrastructure with ServiceNow? Get started today and gain complete visibility into your multi-cloud environment.
