Azure cloud discovery methods and use cases

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 1 minute to read

    • Comparison of use cases and requirements for cloud discovery methods in Azure.

    ITOM Visibility offers several methods for Azure cloud discovery. Each method supports different use cases and has its own requirements.

    Azure cloud discovery use cases

    Table 1. Comparison of Azure cloud discovery methods and use cases
    Use case Cloud Discovery (Pattern-based) Service Graph Connectors Agent Client Collector for Visibility - Content (without MID Server) Agent Client Collector for Visibility - Content (with MID Server) IP-based Horizontal Discovery (Pattern-based)
    IT Service Management (ITSM) - basic and generic virtual CI classes Yes Yes No No No
    ITSM - extended virtual CI classes Yes No No No No
    ITSM - hardware CI classes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
    Pattern discovery of applications No No No Most Yes
    Tag-based service mapping Yes Yes No No No
    Machine Learning (ML)-based service mapping No Some Yes Yes Yes
    Top-down service mapping No No No Most Yes
    Software Asset Management (SAM) - package manager No Yes Yes Yes Yes
    SAM - file-based No No No Yes Yes
    Oracle Global License Advisory Services (GLAS) No No No Yes Yes
    Certificate discovery No No No Yes Yes, without host relationships

    Azure cloud discovery requirements

    Table 2. Comparison of Azure cloud discovery methods and requirements
    Requirement Cloud Discovery (Pattern-based) Service Graph Connectors Agent Client Collector for Visibility - Content (without MID Server) Agent Client Collector for Visibility - Content (with MID Server) IP-based Horizontal Discovery (Pattern-based)
    MID Server Yes No No Yes Yes
    Cloud credential Yes Yes No No No
    OS credential No No No No Yes
    ServiceNow agent No No Yes Yes No
    Azure Monitor Agent/change tracking - on all virtual machines (VMs) No Yes No No No
    Azure Log Analytics workspace No Yes No No No
    Azure storage account No Yes No No No

    Network Connectivity Target VM to MID Server

    		 No No No Yes No

    Network Connectivity MID Server to Target VM

    		 No No No No Yes