Discovery / service mapping cert, valuable?

devKz · ‎01-11-2019

Hello there,

I have the CSA and CAD Certification. I am really interested in learning Discovery, CMDB.

what would you guys recommend

CIS-Discovery Certification or CIS- Service Mapping ?

I believe these are new certifications, are the certifications and knowledge highly valued by companies? Is it worth the time? If so, which cert is more valuable to obtain ?

Thank you!!

DaveHertel · ‎01-11-2019

Hello, there are multiple domains to learn here, Configuration Management processes + CMDB, Discovery product, Servcie Mapping product. There are worthwhile certifications for both Discovery and Service Mapping.

Since it sounds like you are new to this space, I really recommend thinking of these 3 in tiers, where 1st is CMDB/Config mgmt, then 2nd is Discovery followed by the most advanced (and challenging) is Service Mapping.

Work on the foundation CM/CMDB, architecture, integrations, best practices, etc. to establish a good understanding of the intricacies of professionally managing Config Mgmt processes and integrations w/external data sources (this is a common need.... federated data)
Then attend Discovery Fundamentals class and learn how to augment the CMDB to automatically populate it from a enterprise network.
Finally, Service Mapping has 2 classes: Fundamentals and Implementation. Fundamentals is exactly what it says and is a good place to start, AFTER you've attended Discovery. It may provide the SM foundation you need, but if not you can always consider the advanced (SM Implementation) class. I also do NOT recommend taking SM classes right away after Disco.. instead work with the CMDB and Disco for quite a while (months at least) before jumping into the advanced space of Service Mapping.

I'm a ServiceNow instructor and I always strongly advise students to think of these 3 domains in this way. Focus on the foundational knowledge first, then expand into complimentary classes.

Lastly, here is a hidden elephant in the room with the subject. IT Operations is a HUGE domain, vastly complex and ever growing. You need to know some of the core IT fundamentals of operations systems, Application software, various common IT infrastructure, network fundamentals, and some basic developer skills are helpful too. Why all this? Because all of the above is going to use & rely upon it. Especially for the 2nd and 3rd subjects (Disco & SM), you need to have some foundational IT experience to best leverage these tools.

Does this help? Hope so...

View solution in original post

devKz · ‎01-12-2019

Thank you for your time to respond.

DaveHertel · ‎01-12-2019

You are very welcome. And thank you for taking the time to mark the answer as helpful / correct. This encourages participation in the community and shares feedback with everyone and supports all contributors 🙂 Thanks again..

johnnyjava · ‎01-11-2019

I have a Pokemon inspired attitude towards the ITOM Certs from ServiceNow: Gotta collect em all.

Runjay Patel · ‎12-15-2020

Check out this CMDB and Discovery Series. It will help you clear your exam as well as you will get hands-on it.

CMDB And Discovery Series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIGcZxQaeEohxk9nS5Pxn1qNSoUjdUKJS

Runjay Patel · ‎12-20-2020

Check out this video, it will clear all your doubts and help you to understand Service Mapping queries in details.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN33mZiHBj0&t=1s&ab_channel=ServiceNowHelpdesk

It help you to understand below points.

Service Mapping Overview
Service Mapping Plugins Required
Service Mapping roles management
Service mapping credentials for different ci type
Verify that Service Mapping is set up properly (Readiness)
Service Mapping setup step by step
Service Mapping troubleshootings

Please mark reply as Helpful/Correct, if applicable. Thanks!!