Build an Effective CMDB

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Build an Effective CMDB

• Marc Guy
• Customer Support Manager, EMEA
• Service-now.com

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discussion points

• Populating your CMDB
• Sources of data
• Points to ponder
• Class structure
• Defining relationships
• Effective use of CMDB data
• Baselines
• Use in ITIL processes

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Ways to populatea Service-now CMDB

• Direct/manual entries
• Import Sets
• File (SNC will accept CSV, Excel, XML)
• Source can be direct attachment, FTP, HTTP
• JDBC (MySQL, Oracle, SQLServer)
• Web Services
• Integrations
• Altiris, SCCM (SMS), LANDesk
•  Service-now Discovery Tool

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Points to ponder

• How?
• How is the data going to be entered/managed?
• Process, People, and Technology
• How should source data be prepared for import?
• Where?
• Where should the data be stored?
• What/Why?
• What data is necessary? Are you sure?
• Source of record?
• When?
• When should imports/refreshes of CI data happen?
• SNC supports scheduled imports for maintaining
  up-to-date data

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Defining Relationships

• Manual creation and/or import or Service-now.com
  Discovery
• Relationships once created, are defined in 3
  tables
• CI Relationship (cmdb_rel_ci)
• People Relationship (cmdb_rel_person)
• Group Relationship (cmdb_rel_group)
• Relationship Types available ones and/or new
• Example excel import basic parent type -
  child

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Effective use of CMDB data

• CMDB Baselines
• Viewing relationship maps
• Use of CIs in ITIL processes

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Demo
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Best Practice Pitfalls

• Incomplete Discovery data
• Data will be suspect by all, incomplete, no
  proper context
• Expected cost savings loss
• Poor ITSM processes related to Asset Data (CMDB)
• No System of Record

• Pre-Implementation Detailed Planning
• Incremental Approach
• Adopt ITIL and Process
• Limit CI Scope and Address Data Issues
• Automate if possible, trusted federated data
• CMDB is tied to your Change Management and other
  Service Management Processes

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CMDB Maturity

• Inventory of hardware/software by platform
• Operational relationship (e.g. Incident, Problem,
  Change)
• Detailed configuration data
• CI Meta-data (eg. Financials, Purpose)
• Relationships across Cis
• Business Service Relationships
• SNC CMS aligned with ITIL 3

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Demo
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