display name of harsware model changes upon normalization

[archie5]

1. Is it okay to import Hardware Model without Product or is it important? In some cases i saw product being automatically populated during normalization. Where is it coming from?

2. Display name is concatenation of Manufacturer and Name which is perfect. However, upon normalization Display name is recalculated as Manufacturer, Product and Model. We have to revert normalization in order to display it correctly. Is there a way to fix this so Display name doesn't recalculate?

[subingeorge · Accepted solution]

1. Is it okay to import Hardware Model without Product?

Yes, it is technically okay but not recommended in production unless you rely on Normalization to enrich and standardize the data.

Why?

• If you import a hardware model without linking it to a Product Model (cmdb_model_product), your CMDB may be missing essential attributes like lifecycle, support status, or part numbers.

• However, ServiceNow's Normalization Engine (enabled via Content Normalization plugin) can automatically assign the right Product based on manufacturer and model name.

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2. Where is the Product coming from automatically?

When normalization is enabled:

• It uses Hardware Asset Content Service (HACS) or ServiceNow's Content Library, which contains mappings between:

  • Manufacturer

  • Model Name

  • Product Model (including normalized name, lifecycle state, etc.)

When a record is normalized, ServiceNow:

• Matches the raw data to entries in its internal reference content tables

• Then auto-populates related fields like:

  • Product (reference to cmdb_model_product)

  • Standardized model name

  • Lifecycle data

This mapping is maintained in Normalization Library tables, e.g.:

• alm_hardware_normalization_library

• alm_hardware_library_entry

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3. How is the Display Name generated?

In normalized hardware models:

• The Display Name is typically a concatenation of Manufacturer + Model Name
  (e.g., "Dell Latitude 7490")

However:

• Once normalization is enabled and applied, this can be overwritten by the normalized name from the ServiceNow content service.

Where does this logic live?

• The logic is usually implemented in Business Rules or Transform Scripts tied to:

  • cmdb_model (for hardware models)

  • alm_hardware_model or alm_asset

You may see it in a rule like:

javascript

CopyEdit

current.display_name = current.manufacturer.name + ' ' + current.name;