How are you tracking OS / firmware for network devices (routers, switches) in ITAM/CMDB?

[dboudreau670890]

Hi all,

I’m trying to understand how others are tracking operating system / firmware versions for network devices (e.g., routers, switches, firewalls) in ServiceNow.

From what I can see:

• Discovery is able to identify and classify network gear and sometimes capture version details
• However, the Network Gear CI class doesn’t appear to have a dedicated OS/version field out-of-the-box
• In some cases, OS/firmware data seems to land in the Description field or requires customization

This has me questioning how others are approaching this from an ITAM + CMDB + governance perspective:

A few things I’d love to hear:

• Are you tracking router/switch firmware versions in CMDB today?
• If so, where are you storing it? (custom field, model, attribute, etc.)
• How are you managing the lifecycle of network device firmware (e.g., upgrades, end-of-support tracking, standard versions)?
• Are you extending Discovery patterns (SNMP/OIDs) to capture this?
• Do you treat firmware as:
  • configuration data (CMDB)
  • or something closer to “software” for compliance purposes?
• Has anyone implemented standard firmware baselines (e.g., by model)?

It feels like this is a bit of a gap in the out-of-box data model—but I may be missing something.

Appreciate any guidance or examples of what’s working in your environment!

Thanks!

[s4scott]

In my organization we created custom OS and OS Version fields and mapped discovered data to them. Ideally the OS/Firmware should be a Software Install record that can be managed like OS data for computer CIs. This would open up the door to more efficient change enablement for network devices, and greatly simplify reporting for operational needs. After all of these years I am surprised that SAM/HAM is not all over this, or maybe they are and I'm not aware.

[dboudreau670890]

We are wondering the same thing.  @Servicenow any advice?