Hardware asset management is the systematic process of tracking, managing, and optimizing the lifecycle of physical IT assets to maximize their value and minimize risks. Hardware assets are items with financial value whose management involves aspects such as inventory, contracts, cost, deprecation, warranty etc. In contrast, configuration items (CIs) represent components supporting IT service delivery whose operational attributes and relationships needs to be managed. Some items like computers and network devices are typically managed as both Asset and CI. Effective management of hardware assets is crucial for organizations to remain competitive in today’s rapidly changing digital landscape. ServiceNow Hardware Asset Management (HAM) offers a powerful solution which helps streamline asset tracking, automate asset lifecycle management, optimize costs, improve regulatory compliance etc.

Business Benefits

ServiceNow HAM revolutionizes the management of hardware assets throughout their lifecycle, from asset planning to disposal, delivering substantial benefits like those highlighted below:

• Cost Optimization: ServiceNow HAM gives visibility into asset inventory data, insights about the total cost of ownership for assets, better automation of asset operations, complete lifecycle management of assets, depreciation calculations, etc. This enables HAM teams to optimize costs by taking actions to improve asset utilization, reduce hardware maintenance expenditures, curb unnecessary purchases, avoid penalties related to non-compliance, etc.
• Compliance and Risk Mitigation: With its robust auditing and reporting features, ServiceNow HAM improves the capability of organizations to adhere to regulatory requirements, maintain accurate asset records, foster a culture of accountability, identify and mitigate risks related to assets, etc.
• Operational Efficiency: Streamlined asset tracking helps asset operations teams understand information like current location, user, model, warranty, end of life, contract end dates, etc. It helps to save time and effort for various activities like locating specific assets, identifying whether assets are still covered under warranty, tracking and renewing contracts before expiry, replacing assets before their end of life, etc. Faster identification of affected hardware and availability of various operational attributes of the asset in its associated configuration item record will help the support teams speed up incident management. Automated capture of asset data by scanning via mobile application enhances the efficiency and accuracy of operational activities like audits and disposals.
• Enhanced Visibility and Decision-Making: The real-time insights about asset status, usage, cost, etc., provided by ServiceNow HAM empower organizations with data-driven decision-making capabilities, enabling proactive planning and optimized resource allocation.
• Productivity and satisfaction improvements: The enhanced visibility and operational efficiency also translate into higher productivity for the asset operations teams, support teams, procurement teams, finance teams, asset managers, and end users. The availability of self-service catalogs to request assets and efficient management of incidents and requests by the support teams will reduce frustration and increase satisfaction for the end users.
• Sustainability Management: Timely maintenance and repair of assets help extend their useful life. Thus, it reduces the number of premature asset replacements and hence the frequency of e-waste generated from that. Implementation of a proper hardware asset disposal process followed across the organization will help to ensure that end-of-life assets are recycled or disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner, minimizing the release of hazardous materials into the environment.
• Cybersecurity improvements: Implementing mechanisms to prevent unauthorized access to asset information can reduce the possibility of data breaches. Effectively managing assets throughout their lifecycle should enable the assets to become less vulnerable to attacks. The presence of a proper asset disposal process which involves activities like backing up and subsequent wiping of software and data from the devices before disposal helps to prevent data losses or data breaches and the security and compliance issues resulting from those.

 Implementation Approach and Best Practices

Embarking on the ServiceNow HAM implementation journey involves a structured approach encompassing the following key steps:

• Assessment: Conduct a thorough examination of the current hardware asset management process and other related processes such as IT service management and configuration management. If the organization is already using ServiceNow, additionally analyze the current state of the instance. i.e. To understand the modules currently available on the instance, any existing configurations or customizations related to hardware asset management, data populated currently, various data sources, integrations, etc. If the organization is using some other asset management tool currently, analyze that tool to understand how it is configured, what data is populated, how is the asset operations managed through that tool, etc. The assessment will involve discussions with various stakeholders like asset manager, configuration manager, asset operations teams, procurement teams, finance teams, service management teams, legal teams, etc.
• Planning: Define the scope and objectives of your initial implementation of HAM. It should cover device types, models, business use cases, operational activities, etc. Prepare a detailed roadmap for the items that you plan to implement in the initial phase and a high-level roadmap of the items that you plan to implement as part of future scope. This roadmap should be revisited periodically and updated based on factors like the latest product features, process best practices, changes in the organization’s business objectives, etc. Based on the findings from the assessment and considering the scope of the initial implementation phase as per the roadmap, prepare a detailed project plan for the initial implementation.  
• Process definition: The to-be HAM process should be established after understanding the current state of the process and finalizing the scope and objectives of HAM implementation. The process flows should be defined and documented for all the relevant asset lifecycle management areas like asset forecasting, sourcing, procurement, receiving, stock management, deployment, maintenance, repair, replacement, retirement, disposal, etc. The process document should also cover all other important information like business objectives, roles and responsibilities for hardware asset management, governance structure, policies and procedures, integrations with other processes (configuration management, change management, incident management, service request management, etc.), reporting and KPIs, audits, contract management, etc. The process should be aligned with the ServiceNow OOB features as much as possible while ensuring that it meets the client’s business objectives from HAM implementation.
• Data Preparation: Foundation data like companies, departments, cost centers, locations, users, groups, etc. needs to be populated accurately. This may involve efforts to set up integrations and populate the required foundation data if the HAM implementation is part of a fresh ServiceNow instance implementation program. For implementation of HAM on an instance where these data are already in place, then just a review of these data followed by creating or updating missing information is sufficient (while giving higher priority to data that will be referenced in asset records). It is also important to finalize the model categories, models, and contracts that are in scope for the initial implementation. This scoping is critical for HAM licensing calculations as the calculation is based on the HAM resource categories for which we opt-in. Reviewing and enhancing the quality of CMDB data is important for the CI classes which have asset classes corresponding to them. For example, the Computer CI class (cmdb_ci_computer) is used to track the operational information of computer assets which are stored in the Hardware assets table (alm_hardware). So, it is important to reduce data quality issues like duplicate CIs in the Computer CI class.
• Plugin considerations: Only basic capabilities like Asset records tracking, Model records tracking, Stockrooms, Purchase orders, and Transfer orders are supported by the asset management features available in a base ServiceNow platform. For advanced capabilities like model normalization, content library, lifecycle dates automation, asset lifecycle automation, automated asset actions, enhanced mobile capabilities, asset dashboards, HAM workspace, etc, the HAM pro plugin (sn_hamp) is required. Use of this plugin is recommended as these are critical capabilities for effective hardware asset management. It is a paid plugin that can be activated only by ServiceNow personnel. Other recommended plugins for HAM that are not activated by default are Procurement, Cost management and Expanded Asset and Model Classes.
• HAM module setup: A high-level overview of important configurations and customizations to be performed on the instance is given below:
  • Activate the HAM pro plugin and any other supporting plugins required (E.g. Procurement)
  • Opt-in to the required resource categories. This determines which all model categories are normalized when the normalization job runs. End user computers, Mobile devices, Network Gear, and Server are the 4 resource categories available. The HAM licensing costs are calculated based on the resource categories which are opted in.
  • Configure the model categories and models as required. Populate any missing model data which is currently not present or automatically populated. The models which are approved for use in the organization should be made available in the Catalog for end users to order. Devices which need to be managed in bulk should be tracked as consumables (E.g. Inexpensive items like keyboard and mouse)
  • Enable Asset Action and Swapped CI on the related list of Incidents and Changes.
  • Review the OOB flows available for various asset operational activities like asset lifecycle management activities and contract renewals. Wherever required, create a copy of those flows with modifications to meet the organization’s business objectives.
  • Validate that catalog items required for asset lifecycle flows are active. If anything is inactive, enable them if that use case is in scope.
  • Populate the stockroom data and set up stock rules if needed. Make sure that a stockroom manager is assigned to each stockroom that is populated.
  • Ensure that normalization scheduled jobs are active and working properly. Opt-in to the HAM content service if you wish to send your asset data to the content service team. Execute the jobs to download data from the content library if you wish to kick-start normalization.
  • Please ensure that Asset-CI synchronization is active. Review the Asset-CI field mappings and status mappings, and only make changes to them if there is a valid business justification. Here are a couple of best practices to consider regarding CIs:
    • For all CIs with a corresponding asset record, it is recommended to update the Asset record to trigger changes to the synchronized fields on the CI record.
    • Keep non-asset CIs, such as IP addresses and ports, out of the scope of hardware asset management. They should only be managed as CIs.

• Data population and Management: If the organization is currently using another asset repository, take steps to migrate the asset data into ServiceNow. Ensure that only the asset records and attributes that are still relevant for the organization are migrated. Proper cleansing and mapping of data should be done to complete the migration. Appropriate methods like ServiceNow discovery or integrations using Service Graph Connectors (E.g. SCCM, JamF, Intune) should be used to automate the population of operational information of the assets into the CMDB. Ensure that configurations are in place to automate the synchronization of asset data with the corresponding configuration item’s data. The other types of integrations that may be required are integrations with procurement systems, shipping carrier systems, contract management systems, and vendor repositories (E.g. Fetching asset warranty from Lenovo). Monitoring the renewal dates of hardware asset contracts and completing their renewals before the expiry date is critical to avoid compliance, legal, financial, or business continuity risks. Hence the contract information should be populated in the Contract table (ast_contract) for all the contracts which apply to the hardware assets in scope. The contracts should be linked with the assets covered using the ‘Asset covered’ related list. Another important aspect to consider is configuring the appropriate access rights to asset-related data like product models, contracts, assets, reports, etc., based on the organization’s requirements to prevent unauthorized access to data.
• Workspace, Reports and Dashboards: Verify that the hardware asset workspace, hardware asset overview dashboard, asset management executive dashboard, contract workspace etc., are available and populated with data. Create custom reports and dashboards if required. Access to these various reports and dashboards should be configured so that only relevant stakeholders can access the data.
• Go-Live and Evaluation: Gather feedback from all the key stakeholders for the initial phase of HAM implementation done on non-prod instance. Make any changes if required. Then deploy the initial implementation of ServiceNow HAM organization wide. This can be implemented incrementally to production in multiple sprints in an agile manner.
• Training and Change Management: Contributions from all the people involved are essential for the success of the hardware asset management program. So, it is critical to implement a comprehensive training program tailored to different user roles and responsibilities. Develop and execute a robust change management strategy to foster user adoption and minimize disruption. Training documents should be created to train about the HAM process, governance, standard operating procedures, product features, asset data, reports, etc. The documentation should be kept in the ServiceNow knowledge base or an appropriate SharePoint repository accessible to relevant stakeholders. Customized training tailored to their roles should be delivered to various stakeholders like executives, governance teams, asset managers, asset operation teams, contract management teams, procurement teams, finance teams, incident management teams, configuration management teams, etc. It is also recommended to send periodic mailers about data management, HAM features, best practices, governance, etc. to appropriate stakeholders to reinforce their learning. Refresher training sessions should also be conducted periodically. All the relevant documentation should be periodically reviewed and updated if needed.
• Operations and Governance: The operational activities should be conducted on an ongoing basis as defined in the finalized HAM process document. Apart from the process flows and RACI defined in the process document, it is recommended to create detailed Standard operating procedures (SOPs) for asset operational activities and manage the SOP document in a common repository (E.g. ServiceNow knowledge base). Any new members joining the HAM operations team should be provided with a formal knowledge transfer and they should be given access to the repository containing all the relevant reference artifacts created for HAM. All the HAM-related plugins should be monitored periodically to ensure that they are updated to the latest version available. There should be strong governance as per the governance structure established as part of the process definition. Frequent meetings should be held between the key stakeholders to ensure proper governance.
• Continual improvements: Various asset management stakeholders like IT Asset Manager, HAM process owner, Asset operation teams, ServiceNow product owner, etc., should periodically review the current state of HAM implementation. Instance performance, incidents, defects, etc., should be frequently monitored to identify areas for improvement. Implement enhancements to deliver the remaining features outlined in the roadmap, any other features identified as improvements, and product features newly introduced by ServiceNow. Continual process improvements should also be performed periodically by considering the gaps identified and the latest process best practices. The process documents, SOPs, training documents, and any other HAM artifacts should be reviewed periodically and updated whenever any process or product changes are implemented.

Conclusion

An effectively implemented and managed Hardware Asset Management program is a strategic investment that empowers organizations to optimize asset utilization, enhance operational efficiency, and foster a culture of compliance. With the right approach, people, processes and a commitment to continuous improvement, ServiceNow HAM can transform an organization’s IT asset management practices, paving the way for better control, compliance, and cost savings.

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A mature Configuration Management Database (CMDB) in ServiceNow typically contains a huge volume of information related to hardware, software, services, etc. and their relationships. Users frequently struggle to locate the necessary data in their organization’s CMDB. Understanding the structure and schema of the database is usually necessary to query this complicated data model. This is where the natural language query (NLQ)-based CMDB intelligent search capability can really make a difference. It allows users to utilize queries in simple English to retrieve desired information from the CMDB. Thus, they don’t have to come up with any complicated queries or comprehend the underlying database semantics.

2. Accessing and using CMDB Intelligent Search

Step 1: Find CMDB intelligent search from the CMDB Workspace

Click the ‘Workspaces’ menu from the ServiceNow banner and then select ‘CMDB Workspace’ to launch it.

Intelligent search section can be found at the top of the CMDB Workspace, and a search box is located underneath it.

Step 2: Refer ‘Search tips’ (Optional)

Users can also find suggestions on how to perform the search more effectively. Click the ‘Search tips’ URL located next to the ‘Search’ button to view these suggestions.

A search tips pop-up window appears, as shown in the screenshot below.

The following 4 tabs are available on the search tips windows:

• Single-table search: Tips to search a single CI class and its associated attributes. This is displayed initially when the search tips window opens.
• Multi-table search: Tips to search multiple classes and related tables.
• Advanced filtering: Details about the keywords that may be applied as filters to limit the results.
• Relationships: Tips about how to query relationship data.

Step 3: Search for the required information using natural language

In the search box located under ‘Intelligent search’, users can specify what they require in natural language. E.g., Show me all servers located in San Diego.

Under the search field, we can see past searches and sample searches. As you type, ServiceNow suggests potentially relevant table names and field names.

Step 4: Refine the query if required

ServiceNow will try to convert the natural language into an appropriate database query after clicking search. If there’s still uncertainty, a dialog box will appear, prompting you to clarify certain parts of the query. For instance, the pop-up window shown in the screenshot below lets us enter the name of the table for the CI class that we need to query.

Click the ‘View search results’ button after reviewing the information requested in the pop-up window and providing our inputs if required.

Step 5: Check and interact with the results

The search results will be displayed after clicking the ‘View search results’ button in the previous step. Here we can see options to give feedback on the relevance of the results, export this data, check and modify the filter conditions, etc.

NOTE: If the constructed CMDB query contains more than one table, then the search results will have a ‘View in Query Builder’ button available near it. Click the button to open the CMDB Query Builder with your query fully constructed on the Query Builder canvas. We can use the Query Builder to edit the query if needed.

3. Improving the accuracy of CMDB Intelligent search

The NLQ is pre-trained with a certain level of natural language comprehension. But it is possible to increase its accuracy by configuring the following:

3.1 Synonyms

We can use ‘Synonyms’ to improve the search results by enabling users to find records using different terms whose meanings are the same or similar. For example, if “laptop” is defined as a synonym for “notebook”, searching for either term will yield the same results. This feature helps to make searches more flexible and inclusive. This is configured by navigating to ‘NLQ>Synonyms‘ in the application navigator and defining pairs of equivalent terms. For example, the form view of a record available Out-of-the-box (OOB) on the Synonyms table is shown in the following screenshot. This indicates that a search containing any of the keywords listed in the ‘Synonyms’ field will consider the ‘Name’ of the ‘Model ID’ of the server while fetching the search results.

3.2 Semantic Shortcuts

Semantic shortcuts enable NLQ systems to understand various kinds of user requests. They map commonly used words to fields in the database. But they are only applicable when certain conditions are met. It is accessed by going to ‘NLQ>Semantic Shortcuts’. Some semantic shortcuts are available OOB. Organizations need to look at defining custom semantic shortcuts by considering various parameters like their requirements, keywords used in past searches (accessible from ‘NLQ>Logs‘), common use cases, etc.

In the following example, a search about ‘Servers which I own’ will consider records where the ‘Owned by’ field in the cmdb_ci_server table matches the current user who is doing the search.

3.3 CMDB Implicit Relationships

We can improve the capability of Intelligent Search to find relevant results by specifying implicit relationships between CI classes. An implicit relationship defines the relationship between two tables and includes any filters to be applied. Implicit relationships are particularly useful for queries which involve service offerings and application services.

It can be accessed by navigating to ‘NLQ>Cmdb implicit relationships’ from the application navigator. The relationship tab of the ‘Search tips’ window also has a link to access this.

4. Conclusion

The CMDB intelligent search enables ServiceNow users to gather the required information from the CMDB without having to comprehend the database complexity. As a result of improving the user experience while querying the CMDB, it may indirectly increase the effectiveness of CMDB in a variety of use cases, such as service operations, compliance management, IT asset management, planning, etc. Intelligent search enables more stakeholders to tap into the authoritative CMDB intelligence through natural conversation.

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1. CI Identification rules

Identification rules are a set of criteria that ServiceNow utilizes to identify already existing Configuration Items (CIs) within the CMDB. These rules specify how a CI is recognized using some unique attribute (e.g., Name, Serial number, Device ID, Object ID, etc.) or a combination of one or more unique attributes. Properly defined identification rules are essential for maintaining and improving CMDB data quality by reducing the possibility of creating duplicate CIs.

1.1 How to access identification rules?

It can be accessed using any of the 2 ways mentioned below:

1. Go to ‘CI class manager’. Search for any CI class that you want to check (e.g., Network Gear) and open it. Click on the ‘Identification Rule’ tab.

This method is more suitable to check all the identifier entries defined for any specific CI class.

2. Go to ‘Identification/Reconciliation>CI identifiers‘ from the application navigator.

This method is useful for checking identifier entries defined across all CI classes.

1.2 Understanding CI identification rules in action

Let’s take the ‘Network Gear’ class as an example. Open ‘CI class manager’ from the application navigator. Search for Network Gear. Click on ‘Identification Rule’ tab. The ‘Identifier entries’ section shows the list of attributes which are specified as the identifier entries for this class.

We can see ‘Priority’ values assigned to each identifier entry. The entry with the lowest ‘Priority’ value (i.e., 100 here) would be evaluated first, followed by the remaining 3 entries in the increasing order of ‘Priority’. In this example, ServiceNow IRE will initially check for the presence of existing CIs with the combination of ‘Serial Number’ and ‘Serial Number Type’. If a match is found, the data will be updated for the identified CI, and the remaining identifier entries won’t be evaluated. If a match is not found, it will continue by checking the next identifier entry (only Serial Number) and so on. If a match is not found even after evaluating all the 4 identifier entries, a new CI will be created.

1.3 Configuring new Identification Rules

The ‘Replace’ button can be used to define a new identification rule for this class. Then an ‘Add’ button will appear under ‘Identifier Entries’.

Click the ‘Add’ button. A window will appear where we can choose whether we want to use the attributes from the main table or from another table (lookup table) or from a combination of tables. Click ‘Next’ after choosing.

Specify the ‘Priority’, select the ‘Criterion Attributes’ and click ‘Save’ to create the identifier entry. Repeat the process for adding more attributes with a different priority.

1.4 Best practices to consider for CI identification rules

Following are some best practices to consider regarding identification rules:

• Review the out-of-the-box (OOB) identification rules for all the CI classes that you are planning to manage in your CMDB. Modify the rules wherever required based on the unique attributes present in the data sources that will be used to populate each class.
• The attributes considered as identifier entries should be unique and must remain unchanged throughout the CI lifecycle. It should also be populated for most of the records. Leverage a combination of multiple attributes wherever possible.
• Use Service Graph Connectors (if available) for third-party data integrations that populate the CMDB. Integrations that are NOT done using this method will NOT go through the IRE. i.e., they do NOT consider the identifier entries defined for the CI classes that are populated by the integration.
• Use integration hub ETL for manual data imports. Any data imports that are NOT done using this method will NOT go through the IRE.
• Review the identification rules periodically to check if any modifications are required due to any changes in IT infrastructure. E.g., introduction of a new data source

1.5 Identification inclusion rules

This is an additional feature that may be used to limit the list of CIs that are considered for the identification procedure. If a CI class has an Identification inclusion rule specified, ServiceNow’s IRE only processes CIs that satisfy the requirements specified by the identification inclusion rules for that CI class. You may, for instance, establish a rule that only considers CIs with the operational status=Operational. There are no predefined inclusion rules in an out-of-the-box (OOB) ServiceNow instance.

Identification inclusion rules can be accessed and configured by going to the ‘Inclusion Rule (Advanced)’ section present under the Identifier entries defined in the ‘Identification Rule’ tab of a CI class. Click on ‘Add’ and then define the ‘Active record condition’. For example, the following screenshot shows how to set an inclusion rule for the ‘Computer’ CI class with the condition Operation status=Operational.

2. Reconciliation rules

CI reconciliation rules play a vital role in maintaining the integrity and accuracy of the Configuration Management Database (CMDB). These rules are important to resolve conflicts and discrepancies that arise when multiple data sources update the data for the same CI class in the CMDB. For example, if both ServiceNow discovery and an integration from a third-party data source (e.g., SCCM) are updating the same CI, reconciliation rules determine which data source should have higher priority.

2.1 How to access Reconciliation rules?

It can be accessed using any of the following 2 methods:

1. Navigate to ‘CI class manager’. Search for any CI class that you want to check (e.g., Server) and open it. Click on the ‘Reconciliation Rules’ tab

This method is more suitable for checking all the reconciliation rules defined for any specific CI class.

2. Go to ‘Identification/Reconciliation>Reconciliation Definitions’ from the application navigator.

This method is useful for checking and analyzing reconciliation rules defined across all CI classes.

2.2 How to configure Reconciliation rules?

Go to the ‘Reconciliation Rules’ tab of the required CI class (E.g., Server) from the CI class manager as mentioned in section 3.1. Click on the Add button under ‘Reconciliation Rules’ section.

Step 1: A window will appear with the tab named ‘Add Discovery Sources & Prioritize’. Specify each ‘Discovery source’ and its ‘Priority’ using the + button. Then click on the ‘Next’ button to move to the next tab. The following screenshot indicates that ServiceNow discovery will be given a higher priority over manual entry as per this reconciliation rule.

Step 2: From the ‘Select Attributes’ tab, choose the attributes for which this rule will be applicable. The ‘Apply to all attributes’ option can be enabled if we need to use the rule for all attributes of that class. As per the attributes selected in the following screenshot, manual entry will not be able to overwrite the data from ServiceNow Discovery for Manufacturer, Model ID, Name, and Serial Number.

Step 3: From the ‘Set Filter Condition’ tab, define a filter condition only if you need to restrict this reconciliation rule to CIs that meet some criteria. Click on ‘Save’ to finish creating the rule.

Note: Multiple reconciliation rules can be created for the same CI class to define discovery sources and their priorities for various attributes that are populated in the CI class.

2.3 Dynamic reconciliation rules

What we saw in Section 3.2 are static reconciliation rules. Dynamic reconciliation rules were introduced in the San Diego release. We need to enable Multisource CMDB to use this feature. Dynamic reconciliation rules can be used to choose one of the following types of values from the Multisource CMDB data:

• First Reported
• Most Reported
• Last Reported
• Largest Value
• Smallest Value

If the same CI attribute has both static and dynamic reconciliation rules, the dynamic reconciliation rule will take precedence.

2.4 Data refresh rules

This feature can be used to specify when to determine if a CI is stale for a specific discovery source and override the static reconciliation rule for stale CIs so that they can be updated by a lower-priority authorized discovery source. They are present on the ‘Reconciliation Rules’ tab itself. Click Add and then specify the ‘Discovery Source’ and its ‘Effective Duration’ (i.e., the number of days beyond which the CI will be considered as stale for that data source). Click ‘Save’ to create the rule.

For example, let’s consider that the following data refresh rule is defined for the ‘Server’ class. As per this, a lower priority data source would be able to update the data for all Server CIs that are NOT updated in 14 days by ServiceNow discovery.

2.5 Best practices to consider for CI reconciliation rules

Identify all the CI classes that are populated by more than one method (even if it is just discovery + manual entry only). List down the key attributes that are being populated in these classes from various data sources or methods. Discuss with various stakeholders like the configuration manager, various CI class owners, teams that manage each data source (e.g., SCCM team), etc. to understand which data source or method should be given higher priority for different attributes. Also, discuss and understand whether we need to define data refresh rules and dynamic reconciliation rules for any of these CI classes.

3. IRE data source rules

Consider a scenario in which a certain data source is no longer trusted to create new CIs in a particular class, but it can be trusted to update existing CIs only. IRE data source rules can be created to prevent a specific data source from inserting new CIs for a specific class. For example, the following rule indicates that insert is not allowed from the LANDesk data source to the Computer CI class.

Only a single IRE data source rule can be active for any pair of CI class and data source.

Conclusion

The CMDB is a very powerful database that can support the business objectives of an organization across a multitude of IT and non-IT functions across the enterprise. An inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated CMDB can lead to erosion of user trust. This will impact all the business functions that leverage the CMDB. Properly reviewing and defining CI identification rules as well as reconciliation rules for each CI class will help to avoid a lot of CMDB data quality issues.

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