Application vs Business Application vs Software Package vs Software Instance

[pauladams]

Hi,

I am trying to understand the difference between these different CI classes - Application (cmdb_ci_appl), Business Application (cmdb_ci_business_app), Software Package (cmdb_ci_spkg), Software Instance (cmdb_software_instance) and what kind of CIs each of these classes will be holding.

It seems there is an overlap of these classes?

Especially from a ServiceNow Discovery perspective, I would like to know what kind of CIs will be put into each of these classes.

Could someone please explain me with some good examples?

Thanks

- Pa

[diego9 · Accepted solution]

Hi Pauladams:

I will try to explain the differences between the classes, so what that this clarifies a little your doubts.

cmdb_ci_appl = Application CIs created in CMDB that represent something in your environment that you care about. Could be a running process classified by Discovery, or a piece of software that you want to represent or relate via a CMDB CI relationship to a server. Lots of types of applications can be created in this class (web services, for example are subclassed here)... any type of Application that represent a running apps/process/thing that is important to you to track in your CMDB.

cmdb_ci_spkg = Software Package. Think of it as a 'master' reference of a specific version of software at your company. Example: "Visual Studio version 10.1.2a".

cmdb_software_instance = Individual instances, 1 record per installed instance on a server (typically found by Discovery). If 10 machines have Visual Studio 10.1.2a installed (from example above), then 10 records exist in cmdb_software_instance. There is also a 1-many reference between Package to Instances. cmdb_ci_spkg is auto-updated with the running total of installed instances per Package (10 in this example).

cmdb_ci_business_app=Applications can be categorized by the business functionality from an enterprise perspective and it can also be categorized based on how and where they run.

ref:

https://community.servicenow.com/community?id=community_question&sys_id=e85643e1db1cdbc01dcaf3231f96...

I hope this helps you.

Greetings.

[pauladams]

Thank you Diego

- Pa

[Randall Arnold]

That was helpful, but I can't see how to relate a Business Application to a vendor...

[Randall Arnold]

That was helpful, but I can't see how to relate a Business Application to a vendor...