The CMDB is the ServiceNow database that stores information about all technical services. Within the CMDB Discovery, the support information for each service offering is stored in a Configuration Item (CI) specific to that service. It enables IT teams, to better manage their infrastructure especially in the areas of business service impact analysis, asset management, and compliance. Learn how our ServiceNow experts use CMDB’s Core capabilities to assist businesses and organizations in monitoring and detecting health issues

1. ServiceNow
CMDB,
Discovery.
WEBINAR
Sonia Shridhar
Presenter
26 MAY 2021
Date

2. Key Takeaways
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Key IT Challenges
Benefits Of CMDB
What’s new in Quebec
Release for CMDB vs London?
CMDB Relationships View CMDB
How CMDB Works?
Why CMDB?
CMDB Implementation
Success Stories

3. QBrainX
Introduction
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Found by veterans of Information Technology architects. A proud company to be called as “Enterprise
Architects” owned company. Established in 2018 as an Innovative Product company.
In the summer of 2019, the strategic partners of QBrainX has decided to spread wings into Digital
Transformation with clear focus into implementing Optimization, Innovation & Cost Effective solutions
to customers in USA. Successfully started the journey from Michigan, USA (metro Detroit area).
At present, running solid with trusted customer base in USA, Australia, Europe, Middle East & much
more to add. Our family is 50+ members and counting.
About QBrainX

5. CMDB
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6. Use Case of CMDB
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Business Application
Impact Analysis
Asset Management,
Financial Optimization
Configuration
Management
Compliance

7. CMDB Table Hierarchy
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Base
Configuration
Item
Configuration
Item
Hardware Computer
Application
Application
Server

8. CMDB Architecture
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Identification and Reconcile Engine Data Consumers
Data Providers
CI
Identification
CI
Reconciliation
Data
Precedence
CMDB
Incident Management
Problem Management
Change Management
Custom Applications,
Tables or Fields
Import Set
Discovery
Service Mapping
Integration using
REST or SOAP
Data Sources
Custom Application

9. Asset & CI Relationship
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Asset Lifecycle Assets
Requested Procured Deploy
“Operational” Environment
Asset becomes a CI if it needs to be Managed.
CMDB Lifecycle CIs
Retired /
Disposed

10. Who Leverages CMDB?
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Problem Management Team
Service Desk
Incident Response Staff
Change Manager
Support Teams
Project Managers
Information Security
Capacity Management Team
Data Center Operation
Asset Management Team
Disaster Recovery Internal Audits
DevOps Teams
Finance Management Team

11. CMDB Data Model &
CI Class Manager
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CMDB Model
CI
Classes
CI
Relationships
CI
Attributes

12. Data Population in CMDB
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Import
Set
ServiceNow
Discovery
ServiceNow
Service Mapping
CMDB
Identification and
Reconciliation Engine (IRE)
API

13. Discovery
Discovery is a mechanism to pull a
data/device in the network
Infrastructure Discovery
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Accurate and Consistent CMDB
Drives
Asset Management
Change Management
Audit and Compliance
Security Operations
Automation
Types of Discovery
Horizontal
Top-Down Discovery

14. Why Do we need Discovery??
Many IT organization rely on CMDB to manage their
infrastructure changes and identify problems
Many CMDB are not current and does not contain right
type of information (many attributes for a device) but
which on are the right set of attributes
As a result, IT staff cannot determine the affected
business service by changes, failures. Discovery
provides visibility into IT infrastructure and its changes
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Ways To Trigger
Discovery
● Quick Discovery
● Discovery schedule to
ensure accuracy of the CI
data across the
enterprise

15. Discovery Lifecycle
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ServiceNow Discovery
Scan for Active
Devices
Shazam
Probe
Determine
CI Type
Classify
Probe
Determine
CI
Identify
Probe
Explore
The CI
Exploration
Probe
Scan
Phase
Classification
Phase
Identification
Phase
Exploration
Phase

16. Discovery Architecture
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CMDB
Storage
Firewall
Network End User Servers VMware
MID Server

17. Leveraging MID Server
What is a MID Server
ECC Queue
MID Server Rules
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Your Network
Firewall
MID Server
Devices
Applications
Servers
Work Stations
Appliances
Internet
443 443

18. ECC Queue - Screenshot
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19. Dashboard - MID Server Home
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20. Dashboard - Discovery Home
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21. Credentials
Discovery requires credentials to be
able to access the enterprise
network they vary depending on
network and device.
ServiceNow credentials applications
store credentials in an encrypted
format on a specific table within the
credential table.
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CyberArk Vault
MID Server
CyberArk
AIM Agent
ServiceNow
Network Devices
Servers
Corporate Devices
Storage Devices

22. Discovery Schedule
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Discovery
Schedule
Quick
Discovery

23. Probes, Sensors & Patterns
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Sensors
Probes

24. Patterns
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25. Access Patterns
Discovery Patterns
Accessing through Discovery Status
CI classification Record
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26. Success
Stories
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27. Our Success Stories of CMDB, Discovery
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Implemented ServiceNow as a single,
standardized platform solution to scale with
the organization
1Two Companies merging with different IT
Support Teams and tools
Led a successful CMDB cleanup which
established governance by defining new
policies and procedures while re-architecting
the ServiceNow Application
2
An untrustworthy CMDB which resulted in
unreliable business outcomes in the change
and incident processes in ServiceNow
CHALLENGE
SOLUTION
CHALLENGE
SOLUTION

28. Our Success Stories of CMDB, Discovery
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Delivered an objective driven approach leading pilot project teams to
start small and scale, removing unnecessary customizations and
meeting government compliance needs.
3Migrated from a Legacy solution to ServiceNow
CHALLENGE
SOLUTION

29. Our Success Stories of CMDB, Discovery
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● Saved a considerable amount of time and money which was
41% time savings on IT efforts to populate devices and
relationships by creating CMDB Discovery process
documents that contain policies, procedures, roles and
responsibilities
● P1 incidents reduced 57% over a two-year period
● The time to close vulnerability tickets was reduced 70% by
correlating vulnerabilities with configuration items
● 91% of changes and configuration items have an automated
approval process
The well-configured, audited and
managed CMDB with Time and Cost
Savings and improved user experience.
4Saving Time and Money
CHALLENGE
SOLUTION
RESULT

30. Our Success Stories of CMDB, Discovery
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● We automated discovery on all the infrastructure and on vertical services. We don’t have
to go out and invent data centers, what and where the apps and services are installed.
● One of our clients was using Discovery to make sure that they have a single record in
the CI, or a primary source of truth
5Accuracy of Data, III defined relationships
CHALLENGE
SOLUTION

31. CMDB Aligned with Business Value
(Big ROI on ITSM Effectiveness)
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Technology
Applications
Data
Communications
IT Management
Security
Systems
Business Service Impact Analysis

32. IT Service Management with a CMDB
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33. Infrastructure Monitoring
without a CMDB
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There are incidents on servers?
How is it affecting the business?
Typical NOC Centers only Monitor
Technology
There is no Business Context from
Events
Proper Urgency or Business Impact
cannot be determined

34. Questions
&
Answers
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Contact
Us
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contact@qbrainx.com
+1 248-606-7880
www.qbrainx.com
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