In today's fast-paced business environment, organizations heavily rely on their IT infrastructure to drive productivity and deliver seamless services. However, managing and maintaining an efficient IT environment can be complex, especially as technology landscapes become more complex.
That's where ServiceNow IT Operations Management (ITOM) comes into play. This powerful platform offers businesses a comprehensive solution to gain real-time insights into their IT operations, streamline processes, and improve overall efficiency. In this blog post, we'll explore how ServiceNow ITOM Visibility features can help businesses transform their IT operations and achieve operational excellence.
ServiceNow IT Operations Management Visibility consists of two products: ServiceNow ITOM Discovery and Service Mapping.
ServiceNow ITOM Discovery
ServiceNow ITOM Discovery is a process that identifies computers, servers, printers, various IP-enabled devices, and the applications running on them. It then incorporates the gathered data to update the Configuration Items (CIs) in your Configuration Management Database (CMDB).
How Does ServiceNow Discovery Work?
Here is the step-by-step ServiceNow discovery process flow.
1. Credential-Based Access
ServiceNow ITOM visibility uses predefined credentials like SSH (Secure Shell), Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), and APIs to monitor networks and systems while keeping access secure.
2. Launch of Probes and Sensors
Probes and sensors are scripts sent to devices to collect and process raw data, such as IP, OS, and any other running services and update the Configuration Item (CI) records in the CMDB.
3. Horizontal Discovery
Starting with IP ranges, ServiceNow ITOM‘s horizontal discovery scans your IT network layer by layer. It also identifies end-to-end infrastructure components, such as servers, routers, switches, load balancers, etc.
4. Vertical Discovery
Here is another key process that identifies applications, databases, running processes, software versions, and their dependencies. It focuses on application services to map them with the infrastructure components.
5. Dependency Mapping
It will be used for mapping the relationships between infrastructure and applications using patterns. It also creates a Service Map to show how components are interconnected.
6. Data Normalization & CMDB Population
Finally, ServiceNow ITOM visibility data collected from Discovery will be normalized and mapped against existing CMDB entries, ensuring accuracy and quality of reports.
Implementation of ServiceNow Discovery Best Practices
To derive the maximum output from ServiceNow ITOM Discovery, here are the best ServiceNow implementation practices that you must consider.
1. Start with Credential Management
Leverage and store least-privilege credentials securely in the Credential Store and test credentials by using Credential Affinity to avoid failures.
2. Define Clear IP Ranges
Target only necessary subnetworks and avoid sensitive devices, and later, organize IP ranges based on function or location.
3. Configure ServiceNow MID Servers
Deploy ServiceNow Management, Instrumentation, and Discovery (MID) Servers that are close to target devices for ensuring better performance. Use tags for load balancing and monitor their health regularly.
4. Run Discovery Phase-by-Phase
Initiate the horizontal discovery process before mapping application services with components in non-production and expand discovery gradually.
5. Leverage Discovery Patterns and Probes
Use discovery patterns and probes to collect and process data and keep all changes documented and up to date.
6. Maintain CMDB Health
A healthy CMDB means a database with accurate and normalized data will be useful for generating quality reports.
Avoid duplicate CIs and clean up orphaned data regularly. Further, organizations must also monitor the lifecycle of assets for retiring unused ones and saving costs.
7. Monitor and Optimize Performance
Track ServiceNow ITOM Discovery success rates using dashboards and logs and align probes, patterns, and MID Servers as needed for optimizing its performance.
8. Schedule Discoveries
Schedule regular automated discoveries and integrate them with workflows, like change and incident management, for real-time updates and accurate CMDB.
9. Stakeholder Collaboration
Engage with network, app, and security teams for access. And share Discovery data for audits and compliance support.
10. Review and Optimize Process
Review your Discovery scope and configuration regularly. Adapt to new business needs and platform updates for better results.
ServiceNow Discovery Process Flow
- Initiation: Discovery is initiated or triggered manually, against specified IP ranges with chosen MID Servers and credentials.
- Scanning & Identification: MID Server does a horizontal (shallow) scan for finding active devices and determining their types (e.g., server, router).
- Credential Access & Data Collection: Authenticated credentials are employed to access devices, and probes are issued to gather raw system and service data.
- Processing & Mapping: Sensors convert probe data to organized CMDB records; vertical discovery determines applications and dependencies.
- CMDB Update & Logging: Configuration Items are updated or created in the CMDB, dependencies are mapped, and logs are created for analysis.
Business Service Mapping ServiceNow
Business Service Mapping ServiceNow aims to identify all application services within your organization to create a comprehensive map encompassing devices, applications, and configuration profiles that contribute to the associated business services.
By mapping dependencies based on the connections between devices and applications, business service mapping ServiceNow visualizes the immediate impact of a problematic object on the remaining application services. This method enables prompt identification of the consequences caused by an issue.
Key Features and Capabilities of ServiceNow ITOM Visibility
Here are a few significant features and capabilities of ServiceNow ITOM visibility.
1. Discovery (Infrastructure & Application)
Automatically identifies physical and virtual devices, cloud resources, and software applications across on-prem and multi-cloud environments, feeding accurate, up-to-date data into the CMDB.
2. Service Mapping
Builds dynamic, end-to-end maps of business services by identifying relationships between infrastructure, applications, and services. This enables impact analysis, faster root cause detection, and effective change management.
3. Cloud Discovery & Visibility
Discovers resources across AWS, Azure, GCP, and private clouds, including compute, storage, databases, and container services. Enables hybrid cloud management with visibility into dynamic cloud environments.
4. CMDB Normalization
Improves the quality, consistency, and reliability of CMDB data using automated normalization, duplicate detection, identification, and reconciliation rules.
5. MID Server Architecture
Uses secure, lightweight MID Servers to communicate between ServiceNow and enterprise infrastructure without requiring agents, supporting credential management, distributed discovery, and scalability.
6. Dependency Views & Maps
Provides visual dependency views of infrastructure and application layers, helping teams understand upstream/downstream impact for incidents, changes, and outages.
7. Event Correlation Readiness
Lays the foundation for proactive operations by enriching the CMDB, enabling Event Management, AIOps, and anomaly detection with context-rich topology and dependency data.
8. Integration with ITSM & SecOps
Drives better incident, change, and problem management through accurate data and dependency insights, and integrates with security operations for improved threat impact analysis.
9. Support for CI Management
Tracks CI changes over time, helps manage asset and configuration lifecycle, and enforces governance and policy compliance.
10. Continuous Updates & Extensibility
Supports out-of-the-box patterns, customizable probes, and integrations with modern tools, ensuring adaptability as your infrastructure evolves.
Use Cases of ServiceNow ITOM Visibility
Here are the top benefits of ServiceNow IT operations management visibility.
• Unified IT Infrastructure Monitoring
ServiceNow ITOM Visibility provides businesses with a unified view of their entire IT infrastructure. It offers a comprehensive set of monitoring capabilities that allow organizations to track the performance and health of their networks, servers, applications, and other critical IT components.
By consolidating data from various sources and presenting it in a single dashboard, businesses gain real-time visibility into the status of their IT environment. This holistic monitoring approach enables proactive identification and resolution of issues, minimizing downtime and improving overall service availability.
• Intelligent Event Management
IT environments generate numerous alerts daily, making it challenging for IT teams to differentiate between critical incidents and routine notifications. ServiceNow ITOM Visibility incorporates intelligent event management capabilities that help businesses prioritize and filter events based on their impact and urgency.
By leveraging machine learning and automation, the platform can automatically correlate events, identify patterns, and escalate critical incidents to the appropriate teams for immediate attention. This enables IT teams to focus on high-priority tasks, improve incident response times, and ensure timely resolution.
• Proactive Performance Monitoring
ServiceNow ITOM Visibility features robust performance monitoring capabilities that allow businesses to proactively monitor the performance of their IT infrastructure and applications.
Through real-time performance data collection, analysis, and reporting, organizations can identify performance bottlenecks, anticipate potential issues, and take proactive measures to optimize system performance. This proactive approach helps prevent service disruptions, enhances end-user experience, and ensures that IT resources are utilized efficiently.
• Configuration Management
Maintaining an accurate and up-to-date configuration management database (CMDB) is crucial for effective IT operations. ServiceNow ITOM Visibility integrates seamlessly with ServiceNow's CMDB, providing businesses with a centralized repository for managing configuration items and their relationships.
By automatically discovering and mapping dependencies between IT assets, applications, and services, organizations gain a comprehensive understanding of their IT landscape. This visibility into configuration data enables better change management, faster problem resolution, and improved overall IT governance.
• Service Mapping and Dependency Visualization
Understanding the dependencies and relationships between various IT components is essential for efficient incident management and problem resolution. ServiceNow ITOM Visibility offers service mapping and dependency visualization capabilities that enable businesses to visualize how different components interact and rely on each other to deliver services.
This visual representation helps IT teams quickly identify the root cause of issues, understand the impact of changes, and prioritize problem resolution based on critical business services. By streamlining incident and problem management processes, organizations can minimize service disruptions and improve operational efficiency.
• Business Service Insights
ServiceNow ITOM Visibility goes beyond technical metrics and provides businesses with valuable insights into the impact of IT issues on critical business services. By correlating technical events with business processes, organizations can prioritize incident response based on the business impact and align IT priorities with business objectives.
This business service-centric approach enables proactive communication with stakeholders, efficient resource allocation, and improved decision-making.
ServiceNow ITOM Visibility Licensing
ServiceNow ITOM Visibility is tier-based licensed according to the number of Configuration Items (CIs) that are discovered and tracked in the CMDB. It has a standalone subscription within the ITOM family of products, separate from base ITSM licenses. The license has visibility into features like Discovery, Service Mapping, and CMDB Health based on the tier you subscribe to.
ServiceNow Pricing is typically calculated per CI and tiers are structured to support varying levels of infrastructure and application visibility. Organizations can start with basic discovery and scale up to advanced features like cloud visibility and dynamic service mapping as their needs grow. This modular approach ensures flexibility and cost-effectiveness.
Conclusion
ServiceNow ITOM Visibility empowers businesses to gain comprehensive visibility into their IT operations, to optimize performance and enhance their service delivery. With features such as, holistic monitoring, intelligent event management, proactive performance monitoring, configuration management, service mapping, and business service insights, organizations can unlock operational insights, improve efficiency, and elevate the overall IT experience for both internal and external customers. Embracing ServiceNow ITOM Visibility features paves the way for organizations to achieve operational excellence in the digital age.
As a ServiceNow partner, V-Soft is uniquely positioned to address your ITOM implementation challenges. Recently, a client of ours, which happens to be one of the largest cable operators in the United States faced challenges with its legacy systems. Our team of experts implemented ServiceNow’s ITOM capabilities, increasing speed of incident response and resolution by 55% and reduced cost by 32%.
FAQs
- What Kind of Businesses Benefit Most From ServiceNow ITOM Visibility?
Businesses with complex, scalable hybrid/multi-cloud IT environments can benefit from improved monitoring, automation, and service delivery insights with ServiceNow ITOM visibility.
- Can ServiceNow ITOM Visibility Help Reduce Incident Response Time?
Yes. By providing real-time visibility into IT and mapping dependencies, ServiceNow ITOM Visibility identifies root causes, reducing incident response and resolution time.
- What Factors Affect the Cost of ITOM Visibility Licensing?
Cost depends on the volume of CIs leveraged, the features you choose (such as Discovery, Mapping, and Cloud Visibility), and whether your IT environment is on-prem or cloud.
- How is ITOM Visibility Licensed in ServiceNow?
Based on the number of Configuration Items (CIs) discovered and managed, ServiceNow ITOM Visibility is licensed. Organizations must have a tiered pricing model depending on features and usage scale.
