ServiceNow Discovery

ServiceNow Discovery Implementation

ServiceNow Discovery is an IT operations management tool that automates the process of identifying and mapping IT assets and services within an organization’s environment. It scans the network to detect hardware and software components, and their relationships, to provide a comprehensive view of the IT landscape.

• Comprehensive Visibility

• Improved Accuracy

• Enhanced Operational Efficiency

• Better Change Management

• Proactive IT Management

• Strategic Decision Making

• Increased Compliance and Security

Key Features of ServiceNow Discovery

Automated Asset Discovery

Automatically scans and identifies all IT assets, including hardware, software, cloud infrastructure, and network devices, across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments.

Real-Time Data Collection

Dependency Mapping

Cloud Resource Discovery

Application Dependency Views

Integration with CMDB

Scheduled Scans

Credentialed and Agentless Discovery

Continuously collects and updates information on IT assets and their configurations to ensure the CMDB is accurate and current.

Maps relationships between IT components, services, and applications to provide a clear view of service dependencies and infrastructure hierarchies.

Identifies and manages assets in cloud environments, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, providing a unified view of hybrid infrastructure.

Visualizes how different applications interact with underlying infrastructure, enabling better impact analysis and service management.

Automatically populates the CMDB with discovered asset data, ensuring it serves as an accurate source of truth for IT operations.

Uses credentialed access or agentless methods to discover IT assets, offering flexibility and minimizing impact on systems.

Allows for customizable discovery schedules, so scans can be conducted at regular intervals to keep asset information up to date.

Agentless ServiceNow Discovery Architecture

ServiceNow Discovery Best Practices

Define
Clear Objectives

Accurate Credential Management

Segment Networks for Scanning

Schedule Discovery

Integrate with Other ITOM Modules

Monitor Discovery Jobs

Validate CMDB Data

Use Mid Servers Efficiently

Leverage Patterns Based Discovery

Continuously Optimize and Fine-Tune

Auto-Discovery of Cloud Resources

Dependency Views for Better Insights

Start by identifying your discovery goals, such as improving CMDB accuracy, tracking assets, or optimizing service mapping. This ensures a focused approach.

Ensure proper credentials are in place for different systems (Windows, Linux, databases, etc.). Credential failures are a common cause of incomplete discovery.

Divide your network into manageable segments (based on geography, function, or environment) and schedule discovery scans accordingly to avoid overloading your network.

Regularly monitor Discovery job performance and logs to quickly identify any failures or missed devices, ensuring the health of your discovery process.

Integrate Discovery with Service Mapping, Event Management, and CMDB to enrich your understanding of service dependencies and automate impact analysis.

Set up scheduled discovery scans to regularly update your CMDB and capture any new or changed assets, ensuring your data remains accurate.

After each discovery run, validate the data being populated in the CMDB, checking for accuracy, completeness, and consistency to maintain data integrity.

Deploy multiple Mid Servers where needed based on network architecture to balance the load, improve performance, and ensure effective communication with all network segments.

Use ServiceNow’s discovery patterns to tailor discovery for complex environments or custom applications, enhancing accuracy for non-standard infrastructure.

Continuously assess your discovery process, adjusting scan intervals, credentials, or segments as your IT environment evolves to maintain effectiveness.

Utilize the cloud discovery capabilities for AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud to automatically detect cloud instances, ensuring complete coverage of hybrid environments.

Use the Application Dependency Views generated by Discovery to visualize service dependencies, enabling better impact analysis for changes and incidents.

ServiceNow Discovery Prerequisites

ServiceNow Admin Access

Deploy MID Servers

Network Segmentation and IP Ranges

Firewall and Network Configurations

Discovery Subscription

Protocol and Port Requirements

How Does ServiceNow Discovery Works?

Frequently asked questions

What is ServiceNow Discovery?

ServiceNow Discovery is a tool that automates the process of identifying, tracking, and mapping IT assets across your infrastructure. It helps populate and maintain an accurate Configuration Management Database (CMDB) by scanning and discovering servers, applications, network devices, and more.

What IT assets can ServiceNow Discovery detect?

ServiceNow Discovery can identify a wide range of IT assets, including servers, network devices, databases, cloud services, storage systems, software applications, and virtual machines across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments.

Why is ServiceNow Discovery important?

Discovery ensures your CMDB is accurate and up-to-date, which is essential for effective IT operations, incident resolution, change management, and asset tracking. It also helps in reducing manual efforts, minimizing errors, and improving IT service management.

How does ServiceNow Discovery work?

Discovery works by scanning your IT environment using credential-based access. It uses protocols like SSH, SNMP, and WMI to gather data about assets and then automatically populates your CMDB with the discovered information.

What are the prerequisites for running ServiceNow Discovery?

To run ServiceNow Discovery, you need properly configured MID Servers, network access permissions, valid credentials (for Windows, Linux, network devices, etc.), and a setup CMDB in your ServiceNow instance.

What is the role of a MID Server in Discovery?

The MID (Management, Instrumentation, and Discovery) Server facilitates communication between ServiceNow and your IT infrastructure. It acts as a secure gateway to collect data from your network and send it back to the ServiceNow platform