Improving CMDB data quality for HAM
Summarize
Summary of Improving CMDB data quality for HAM
The Remediation actions panel in the CMDB Success Advisor dashboard for Hardware Asset Management (HAM) provides targeted, context-aware recommendations to improve the quality of your Configuration Management Database (CMDB). This panel appears on the KPI Details page when actionable insights are available, guiding you through steps to enhance data accuracy, consistency, and usability of configuration items (CIs) to better align with HAM requirements.
Show less
Key Features
- Guided Remediation: Offers specific, actionable tasks tailored to the data segment selected in a chart, enabling focused improvements.
- Context-Aware Suggestions: Delivers recommendations based on the current state of your CMDB data, such as stale or incomplete records.
- Visibility and Focus: The panel appears only when there are meaningful remediation actions, helping prioritize efforts effectively.
- Easy Access: Open the Remediation actions panel by selecting a segment or count on any chart in the HAM CMDB Success Advisor dashboard.
Practical Remediation Actions
The panel supports resolving common CMDB data quality issues critical to HAM, including:
- Correcting CIs with invalid or missing names to improve discovery and asset alignment.
- Filling missing model data such as model ID, name, number, and manufacturer to aid normalization and lifecycle tracking.
- Updating or removing stale CIs that have not been refreshed or discovered recently to maintain an accurate environment view.
- Identifying and merging or deleting duplicate CIs to ensure a single source of truth.
- Removing hardware assets incorrectly assigned to virtual CIs to prevent inaccurate license consumption reporting.
- Assigning missing serial numbers to enhance duplicate detection and asset tracking.
- Adding missing location data to fill gaps in asset tracking and service mapping.
- Resolving mismatches between CI installation status and asset state for accurate lifecycle reporting.
- Configuring Service Graph Connectors (SGC) to capture missing key attributes, focusing on CI classes mapped to each connector (excluding Operational Technology connectors).
Benefits for ServiceNow Customers
By leveraging the Remediation actions panel, you can systematically improve the quality of your CMDB data related to hardware assets. This leads to more reliable asset tracking, better license management, and enhanced lifecycle reporting. The targeted nature of the actions helps your teams quickly address critical data gaps, resulting in a more accurate and usable CMDB that supports HAM processes effectively.
The Remediation actions panel available for a chart in the CMDB success advisor dashboard for Hardware Asset Management (HAM) suggests targeted actions to improve the overall quality of your Configuration Management Database (CMDB).
When remediation actions are available for a chart, the Remediation actions panel appears on the KPI Details page.
You can perform the actions suggested within the Remediation actions panel to address HAM data quality issues in the CMDB. These actions help improve the accuracy, consistency, and usability of configuration items (CIs), promoting better alignment with HAM.
- Improves CMDB data quality through guided actions
- Suggests context-aware actions
- Supports quick, informed remediation steps
- Focuses attention on meaningful tasks
- Appears only when actionable insights are available
Accessing the Remediation actions panel
To open the Remediation actions panel, select a segment or count on a chart in the CMDB success advisor dashboard for HAM. The KPI Details page opens. If the remediation actions are available for the selected data, the panel appears on the details page suggesting various remediation actions.
Available remediation actions
The Remediation actions panel provides relevant suggestions and actions based on the information in the selected chart. For example, if the chart shows CIs that weren't updated recently, the panel displays a suggestion to review retirement policies.
The remediation actions are available for the improvement of the following issues:
- CIs with invalid or unpopulated names
- Identify and correct CIs that lack meaningful or complete naming, which can impact discovery and asset alignment.
- CIs with missing model entries
- Resolve CIs missing any model-related data in the CMDB, including model ID, model name, model number, and manufacturer, all of which are essential for normalization and life cycle tracking.
- Stale CIs
- Remove or update CIs that weren't updated or discovered for an extended period, helping maintain an accurate representation of your environment.
- Duplicate CIs
- Remove or merge duplicate records to avoid data fragmentation and promote a single source of truth.
- Virtual CIs with asset
- Identify and remove hardware assets incorrectly created for virtual CIs, which can lead to inaccurate HAM license consumption and reporting.
- CIs missing serial number
- Identify and resolve CIs that have no assigned serial number, which can affect duplicate detection and hardware asset tracking.
- CIs missing location
- Identify and resolve CIs that have no assigned location, which can cause gaps in asset tracking and service mapping.
- CI and asset state mismatch
- Identify and resolve CIs where the installation status does not align with the corresponding asset state, which can lead to inaccurate asset life cycle reporting.
- CIs missing key attributes covered by an SGC
- Configure the recommended Service Graph Connectors to capture missing attribute data. Recommendations are limited to CI classes directly mapped to each connector and exclude Operational Technology connectors.