CI class recommendations

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated February 25, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of CI class recommendations

    CMDB success advisor in ServiceNow helps you optimize your Data Foundations scope by analyzing historical task activity related to Configuration Item (CI) classes. It recommends CI classes based on their frequency of appearance in incidents, problems, and changes (IPC) over a configurable time period (default 180 days). These recommendations guide you toward the most relevant CI classes but do not solely dictate your final selection, allowing your organizational priorities to take precedence.

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    Key Features

    • Recommendation Basis: Recommendations are ranked strictly by IPC task activity, not by CI population or alignment with the Common Service Data Model (CSDM).
    • Configurable Period: The suggestion period is set by the sncmdbadvisor.principalclasssuggestionperiod system property and defaults to 180 days.
    • Default Classes: If fewer than six CI classes have sufficient task activity, a default fixed list of six essential CI classes (such as Computer, Server, Database, Cloud Database, Virtual Machine Instance, and IP Router) is used to ensure minimum recommendations.
    • Handling No Task History: For instances without any task history, all six default classes are recommended, with the option to configure this behavior via the "Create the principal class recommendation criteria" property.
    • CI Class Groups: The recommendation interface organizes CI classes into logical groups by technology domain (e.g., AI systems, Cloud Databases, IT networking devices) and highlights “Recommended additions” based on recent IPC activity for easier selection.
    • Recommended Removals: CI classes that are no longer recommended or are excluded (due to exact class names, prefixes like cmdbciendpoint, or suffixes like template) appear in a “Recommended removals” group to help you clean up your Data Foundations scope. This group only shows selected principal classes matching exclusion criteria.
    • User Control: You can accept or reject any recommendations, add or remove CI classes manually, and adjust your scope according to your organizational needs.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Ensures your Data Foundations scope focuses on the most operationally relevant CI classes by leveraging actual incident, problem, and change data.
    • Simplifies CI class selection through categorized groups and clear guidance on additions and removals, improving your CMDB’s accuracy and usability.
    • Helps maintain a clean and manageable CMDB by identifying CI classes that may no longer be relevant or should be excluded.
    • Allows tailoring of CI class recommendations to your instance’s history and business priorities, providing flexibility and control.

    By using these recommendations, you can enhance the effectiveness of your CMDB data foundation, leading to better IT service management and decision-making.

    CMDB success advisor analyzes historical data in your instance to recommend which CI classes should be in your Data Foundations scope.

    Recommendations are ranked strictly by task activity: the frequency of each CI class appearing in incidents, problems, and changes (IPC) over a configurable period. The default period is 180 days, set in the sn_cmdb_advisor.principal_class_suggestion_period system property. CI population and Common Service Data Model (CSDM) alignment aren't used to rank recommendations. For more information about system properties in CMDB success advisor for principal classes, see Principal classes in CMDB success advisor.

    You aren't required to accept all recommendations. Recommendations are guidance, and your organization's priorities should drive the final advisor scope selection.

    Note:
    If fewer than six CI classes have task activity within the suggestion period, CMDB success advisor adds classes from a fixed default list until the minimum is reached. This default list includes Computer [cmdb_ci_computer], Server [cmdb_ci_server], Database [cmdb_ci_database], Cloud Database [cmdb_ci_cloud_database], Virtual Machine Instance [cmdb_ci_vm_instance], and IP Router [cmdb_ci_ip_router]. On instances with no task history at all, all six default classes are recommended. To configure which classes are suggested on instances with no task history, see Create the principal class recommendation criteria property.

    CI class groups

    The Set principal classes dialog box organizes available CI classes into groups. The following groups are available for selection:

    • AI systems
    • Cloud
    • Databases
    • End user computing devices
    • Enterprise architecture
    • Integrations
    • IP address management (IPAM)
    • IT networking devices
    • Kubernetes
    • Mainframe
    • Middleware applications
    • Others
    • Recommended additions
    • Recommended removals
    • SaaS
    • Servers
    • Service instances
    • Services and offerings
    • Storage
    • Virtualization infrastructure
    Tip:
    The Recommended additions group is displayed at the top of the list and contains up to 20 CI classes ranked by recent incident, problem, and change (IPC) activity. The remaining groups organize classes by technology domain to help you find related classes quickly.

    Recommended removals

    The Recommended removals group is displayed in the Set principal classes dialog box when any of your selected principal classes match the CI class exclusion list. A class matches the list by exact class name, the cmdb_ci_endpoint_ prefix, or the _template suffix. When present, this group is displayed at the top of the list next to Recommended additions. If none of your currently selected principal classes match the exclusion list, the group isn't displayed.

    The group lists only the currently selected principal classes that match the exclusion list. The check box for each class is already selected to reflect its status as a principal class. Excluded CI classes generally aren't offered for selection in the Available classes column. A class is displayed in this group if it was selected as a principal class before being added to the exclusion list. It's also displayed if it was marked as a principal class directly in CI Class Manager.

    Clearing the check box for a class in the Recommended removals group removes it from your Data Foundations scope when you select Done. Selecting the information icon next to the group name displays guidance for reviewing these classes. For the full procedure for updating principal classes, see Set up the Data Foundations advisor dashboard manually.