One CMDB or Mutliple

[Kamabk33]

We have 3 companies merger, A, B, C. We have decided to use "A" as master instance and B & C to be integrated with A.

My question is what is best approach for CMDB. Should we synch all 3 CMDBs ? or Keep A as master CMDB and B,C to use local CMDBs for local services ?or

One idea is to use CMDB of Instance A for all global/shared Services,  and B and C for local. Business objective is Centralized CMDB. Any thoughts?

[Marcos Kassak]

Hi @Kamabk33,

I see what you mean and from my point of view, you need to establish good governance in any decision you take from now on.

I see some options:

1. Centralized CMDB - where you can have instance A as master CMDB and all the other companies being integrated.

2. Hybrid - A is still the master but B and C have their local services to manage on their own.

3. Gradual - You can aim for Centralized CMDB in the long run but start with Hybrid, so they can establish their processes and with good governance, you can promote some of their local services to the master CMDB for example, and start a merge gradually, so people don't be so reluctant about the change management.

We had a customer with this very same scenario and we went for Gradual with phased approach, as per integrations, we managed to use Axonius because duplicates were one of the main problems too. 

Things that we considered for the decision:

• Data Quality and Consistency: Ensure that the data across all CMDBs is clean, accurate, and consistent.
• Integration Complexity: Evaluate the effort and resources needed to integrate or synchronize the CMDBs.
• Business Processes and Requirements: Align the CMDB strategy with the overall business objectives and operational requirements of the merged entity.
• Change Management: Consider the impact on people and processes, and plan for effective change management.
• Compliance and Governance: Ensure that the chosen approach meets any regulatory or compliance requirements.

Happy to talk more if you want to!

[Kamabk33]

Thanks Marcos, here are some additional questions, if you can share your thoughts.

1. Centralized CMDB - where you can have instance A as master CMDB and all the other companies being integrated. - When we talk about integration of CMDB, what does exactly mean. Do you mean to sync them?  what is suggested app to integrate CMDBs in ServiceNow ? I know service bridge but that is from process perspective (e.g. Case, Tickets etc.)

What I am thinking, to keep the shared services/apps in Master instance "A",  and other instance can keep the local services in CMDB. Now question is when a user would like to use any CI from Master (A), How will they  get that CI, Do you think, we have to keep a local copy of each shared service (CI) too ?

[Marcos Kassak]

Hi @Kamabk33,

In the mentioned scenario, they had multiple CMDBs and many tools for discovering data. So they used Axonius to merge them all into a single source of truth.

That single source of truth (CMDB) is populating the global instance, and all the other regions also consume data from the global instance (to keep their CMDB up to date) and they also create their records (local CIs) on their CMDB via Service Catalogs.

The architecture is the one that you mentioned. You will have the master instance feeding other instances (this data can't be changed on other instances since belongs to the master), and you have the local CIs on each one of them.

If you found my answer helpful or correct in any way, please don't forget to mark it to help future readers! 👍

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Kind regards,

Marcos Kassak
Solution Consultant  🎯