ServiceNow Discovery Reviews

We started using ServiceNow in 2017 for ITSM, primarily for incident, change, and problem management. 

In 2019, we adopted ITOM, utilizing Discovery, Service Mapping, and Event Management. Currently, we heavily customize these suites, building our own UI pages and CSM pages. We are also exploring IT Business Management for next year, potentially looking into service portfolio management and customer service management.

I like how ServiceNow Discovery scans servers and network devices through SNMP. 

Most fields on our forms are auto-filled, reducing manual maintenance for our infrastructure team. Post Discovery implementation there is hardly any maintenance. There are three to four fields that are customized. Otherwise, 90% of the data is auto-filled. 

Discovery can also run in bulk, which is helpful for organizations that cannot run it during weekdays.  

With identification rules, if a configuration item (CI) isn't in the CMDB, you can simply add the IP address, and it will be automatically added based on criteria like name or serial number, making CMDB maintenance easier.

Our company has historically used the solution for IT infrastructure. We started deploying the solution in 2017 and have moved through nine versions since then. We are partners with ServiceNow and have a very good relationship with them.

Recently, we established a complete platform that will allow us to do IT infrastructure software and OT assets for manufacturing. We have planned a very long journey with ITSM and Discovery. 

We are working on a new deployment in Asia that includes the new Discovery version on Orchestration and the Automation Engine in Tokyo. We will soon be onboarding HRSD, Legal Service Delivery, OT for manufacturing, and ESG. We have a developed a very complete roadmap.

Our company deploys for enterprise businesses ranging from 10,000 to 1.5 million employees. 

The most valuable asset is relationship building because the solution discovers and builds auto relationships in a way that makes cleanup very easy. Normally, when you discover data you get a lot of junk so only 30% of data might be useful. 

With the solution, it is easy to establish a relationship and discard the 70% of data that you don't want to use. 

The primary use case for ServiceNow Discovery involves collecting software and hardware data from devices, enabling comprehensive mapping of services and applications, including SLAs and KPIs.

ServiceNow Discovery has an area for improvement, particularly concerning its global deployment in a company with data centers worldwide. The current limitation requires having mid servers or discovery servers in each data center for proper discovery, hindering the ability to discover assets across continents such as Asia Pacific and Europe. BMC Discovery allows for global discovery with only a few servers.

We're running Discovery on several IP ranges to discover objects in the network. We can run Discovery on-prem through APIs or use it with cloud environments like AWS and GCP and Azure. 

Discovery enables us to get an accurate inventory that's updated daily. It eliminates human error and the need for people to update configuration changes manually. We have not implemented them yet but plan to set up alerts on CIs that are being audited to see if there are any changes. 

We just have some use cases of discovering some products from the hotels that we support. For example, basic configuration items, assets, importing them, the servers, the data centers, and all that information to be stored in our system, building the CI relationship, etcetera. So, the basic needs of any organization.

It's a single source of truth. We have everything in one place. 

Primarily, we use Discovery to discover and maintain our CIs (Configuration Items). It also has the potential for subscription management, but we're not currently using it for that.

One of our key use cases is tracking laptops assigned to employees within our organization. We need to monitor their usage patterns and performance. We start by using Discovery to populate a database with details about computers, servers, and SNMPs. 

Then, we integrate with a third-party tool for monitoring. If issues arise, they raise a ticket in ServiceNow, allowing us to proactively address problems.

ServiceNow offers many other features with Discovery, but it takes time to learn and implement them effectively. We've started with out-of-the-box solutions, customized them to our needs, and are gradually upgrading our processes.

So, it does take some time for someone to learn Discovery, or any other ServiceNow product.

I also primarily work with ITSM modules like incident, problem, and change management. I also use IT Operations Management (ITOM) products like Discovery, Service Mapping, and Operations Management.

We use Discovery and Operations Management to manage our CIs. Additionally, we use incident, problem, change, and knowledge management for ITSM (IT Service Management). It's like a ticketing service.

Discovery patterns have helped identify and map our services more accurately. Discovery connects all the CIs (Configuration Items) together. 

In ServiceNow, there is something called a schema map that will show in which data center, what things are present, how many virtual agents are there, and how many people are working.

For example: Think of a scenario where my Wi-Fi in a specific area is not working – let's say Wi-Fi in D Block. Two employees from that block raise tickets saying that Wi-Fi is not working. Without a tool like Discovery, I don't know if the Wi-Fi access point is broken, if the service package has expired, or if there's a power issue.

So, I would check the subscription status of that Wi-Fi access point and send the support team there. They will resolve the issue. That way, everything is interconnected. Multiple people from the same router raising tickets means there is some problem with the router itself. That's how it helps.

We used the product to manage our desktop assets. We were expanding it to use the rest of the technology assets. The technology assets would be populated from Tanium. It is an incredibly valuable tool for what we need.

The service management and operations management modules are valuable.

You can use it for network resources, servers, databases, and network gear. I've also used it in the past for asset management to discover desktop equipment, laptops, and peripherals.

It's pretty robust, and it's agentless for the most part. So, you don't need to deploy agents, which makes it a lot easier to stand up.