Asset v/s CI

hameetkaur
Tera Contributor

3 weeks ago

Hi All,
I was going through CSDM - Data Foundation NowLearning course. 
I need to difference b/w Asset and CI with respect to ServiceNow.

AssetvsCI.jpg

As per the course it is stated that Applications, Virtual Servers, Web Sites, Cloud environments etc are all CIs. However, they all have financial cost associated with them in terms of "pay-as-you-go".

What are the criteria on which they are being differentiated?

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HarshiniReddy
Tera Contributor

3 weeks ago

Hi @hameetkaur ,

To answer your question, cost alone does not determine whether something is an Asset or a CI in ServiceNow. Operational relevance makes something a CI.

In ServiceNow (CSDM):

  • Assets are used for financial and ownership tracking

  • CIs are used for operational tracking and service impact

An Asset represents something that is:

  • Owned or leased

  • Has financial value

  • Goes through lifecycle states (procured → in use → retired)

  • Managed mainly by Finance / Asset Management

Examples: laptops, physical servers, network devices, software licenses, cloud subscriptions (contracts).

A Configuration Item (CI) represents something that:

  • Is required to deliver an IT service

  • Can impact service availability

  • Needs to be monitored and related to other components

  • Is managed mainly by IT Operations

Examples: applications, databases, virtual machines, web services, cloud resources, load balancers.

CSDM rule of thumb:

  • If you raise an Incident or Change when it fails → it’s a CI

  • If you track cost, ownership, or depreciation → it’s an Asset


Thanks,

Harshini Reddy.