Discovery Vs. SCCM Integration with ServiceNow

michaelmorgan · ‎12-14-2017

Hi,

I'm quite new to the Asset Management and CMDB side of ServiceNow as my business does not use this currently, but I'm interested in floating the idea of doing this.

I was wondering if someone on here who has possibly used both Discovery and SCCM Integration with SN could let me know the advantages of either importing SCCM data into the ServiceNow CMDB or using Discovery?

I'm under the impression Discovery would enable ServiceNow to use more advanced techniques of service mapping for each CI?

Any responses will be greatly appreciated!

prabhash_snow · ‎12-14-2017

Hi Michael,

First of all lets understand what are the various use cases of SCCM and DISCOVERY

SCCM : it is used to import data for END USER DEVICES (desktop, laptop, VDI etc) into CMDB

DISCOVERY : Agent less mechanism to import INFRASTRUCTURE CI data (servers, LB, Routers etc) data into CMDB

In SCCM integration we pull the data directly from the SCCM DB through a plugin. That MSSQL DB contains information about all the Devices present in the Client's environment, whereas in Servicenow Discovery we get the data from a infrastructure CI (WIN, UNIX, NW) by using probes and sensors.

So yes, Discovery gets you more attribute as compared to SCCM. Also, understanding discovery process flow and concepts is a must for Service Mapping and Orchestration (In case you are planning to explore more).

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Shane J · ‎12-14-2017

The SCCM integration is basically just an import from SCCM, without creating any relationships when the import is complete. It also won't 'discover' anything - that's not what it is meant to do. You're only going to get information for things that are running the SCCM client.

Discovery should get you much more information than SCCM, as it actually goes out and essentially pulls back information for anything with an IP. It will also create relationships within ServiceNow as part of the Discovery process. This is why this will cost you real $$ vs the 'free' SCCM integration.

michaelmorgan · ‎12-15-2017

I haven't looked into this too much yet but how is Discovery licenced? Just to judge whether it would be suitable for our business.

prabhash_snow · ‎12-15-2017

As per my knowledge, the license costs depend on how many servers( WIN, UNIX) you are going to discover.

Get in touch with Servicenow folks, they would be able to explain better.

Thanks,

Prabhash

John Shores1 · ‎12-22-2017

Michael,

We're a ITOM customer (Discovery, Service Mapping, Event Management, etc.). Discovery is priced by the node, regardless of operating system. So for each discoverable IP device on your network, you'll need a license. If you have a large network, the cost can be high; but there are ways to bundle product together to get better pricing. Talk to your account exec about that.

We've taken a hybrid approach to our implementation. We licensed ITOM for our production network only and use SCCM integration for desktop and non-production data. It works just fine. Our Discovery Ranges don't discover anything but the prod segments. If we find a one-off on the prod network, we exclude it (or move it where it belongs).

Cheers!

John