Enable Create CI on Asset Insert Business Rule - Product Knowledge

Enable Create CI on Asset Insert Business Rule  Product Success Playbook

Enable ‘Create CI on Asset Insert’ Business Rule

A step-by-step guide to analyze and remediate Asset to CMDB Sync

Table of Contents

Summary

Goal of this Playbook

Audience

Problem Overview

Executive Summary

How this playbook can help you achieve business goals

How this playbook is structured

Problem Analysis

Upstream Causes

Downstream Consequences

Impact on Your Business

Engagement Questions

Remediation Plays

Summary

Play 1: Review your data

Play 2: Fix Play

Data Governance

Summary

Goal of this Playbook

This goal of this playbook is to help you verify (or reenable) the use of the “Create CI on insert” business rule, which should trigger upon Asset record creation. For every Hardware Asset there should be a related CI. This Business Rule ensures a corresponding CI is created when a new Asset is inserted. The Business Rule ensures Configuration Items are available within your CMDB for use in workflows as well as IT Service Management and Change Management processes through the “affected CI” relationship on task records.

Details about this playbook

Author Emir Eminovic Reviewer Daniel Slocum Date 12/06/2021 Addresses HSD # HSD0010607 Applicable ServiceNow Releases All Releases Time Required Approximately 1 to 8 hours (depending on your environment) Audience

Asset Manager or Asset Management team

Configuration Manager or Configuration Management team

ServiceNow Administrator

Problem Overview

The ServiceNow Asset Management application integrates the physical, technological, contractual, and financial aspects of information technology assets. Operational aspects, such as installation, cpu and memory upgrades, maintenance, and repair of Assets are generally completed by IT Service Management (ITSM) processes and tracked in ServiceNow by task records related to Configuration Items maintained within the Configuration Management Database (CMDB). Therefore, it is important that the Asset Management Database (AMDB) and CMDB are in sync. To ensure this, the ServiceNow platform utilizes a Business Rule that creates corresponding records CMDB when a new record is inserted into the AMDB. ‘Create CI on insert’ will create a CI for every Asset record based on the Asset and CI classes defined in Model Category records. This establishes a bond between the two records, as well as a bi-directional sync between the two. In some instances, the Business Rule has been disabled, resulting in mismatch between the AMDB and the CMDB. If the bond is not established, then updates to one record will not be synced to the other.

Executive Summary

How this playbook can help you achieve business goals

The proactive creation of CI’s upon creation of Asset records is the best way to ensure CMDB data integrity. Doing so also simplifies Model Management as a correct model is identified for the CI prior to a discovery source updating the CI record, after it is deployed. Model data stored within a CI’s BIOS may not conform to the naming convention utilized by the Procurement and Asset Management teams. If CI’s are not created until they are discovered, ServiceNow will attempt to match the device to an existing CI using the discovered serial number and model. If a match is not made, a new record is created, which can result in the creation of new and unwanted model records, as well as duplicate CI records. When the asset is created first and the Create CI on insert business rule is enabled the potential for duplicate CI records and insertion of unwanted model records is greatly reduced. In this scenario discovered CI’s are matched on the serial number to existing CI’s and differences in the model value are ignored. For more details on this functionality, review the ServiceNow Docs site’s information on the IRE.

When assets are correctly linked to CI’s operational visibility is increased. Linked records are synchronized through platform automation, which helps with lifecycle management. You can track the lifecycle stage of the asset as CI’s are updated, simplifying asset management.

Operational changes in the CMDB are reflected in the AMDB, ensuring Asset managers can better understand the Technology footprint

Improve full cost visibility, by having CI’s related to asset records. Expense lines can be captured incidents are closed against a CI, costs for installed software can be calculated, and costs per business organization or business service can be calculated. Helps with auditing and compliance requirements. Improves the accuracy of data in both your CMDB and AMDB.

How this playbook is structured

The first play (an analysis play) shows you how to tell if the Create CI on insert business rule is enabled

The second play (a fix play) tells you how to enable the Create CI on insert business rule

The third play (a governance play) includes a processes you can follow to make sure the information in CMDB continues to be accurate helping you maintain healthy foundational data for use across the entirety of the ServiceNow Platform.

Problem Analysis

Upstream Causes

The Create CI on Insert business rule was disabled either by design or by accident

Upon initial deployment of your CMDB, Asset Management was still in another platform, or vice versa

A custom business rule was created for CI creation, and the baseline version was disabled.

An implementation partner had an accelerator code which created additional custom Business Rules.

Downstream Consequences

Data Consequence

CMDB and ITAM report different results for similar metrics

Lifecycle status and field mapping data between the asset record and the CI may not be synchronized

Linkage from the Asset record to a CI record might not exist, eliminating usage of CI’s in processes and workflows across the platform.

Instead of CI creation through out of box automation, CIs will likely be created by users or through a discovery source potentially resulting in duplicate Asset records if the converse business rule (Create Asset on insert) is enabled. Visibility into Incidents raised against CI’s is not visible to Asset Managers and Procurement Specialists preventing them from making informed Vendor Management and sourcing decisions.

Operation Consequence

AMDB and the CMDB are not in sync

Inaccurate Procurement decisions

Asset Tag based lookup of CI’s is not possible. Note: there is a data synchronization product feature that bidirectionally moves data between Asset and CI records for a number of key attributes. The asset tag value is one of the attributes that are synchronized.

Erodes trust in the CMDB and leads to a poor user experience

CIs have to be sourced from somewhere else, potentially resulting in erroneous reports and increased work for operations teams

Warranty Information is more difficult to obtain for Operational Teams

App Consequence

CIs have to be sourced from somewhere else, potentially resulting in Duplicates

Incomplete or inaccurate data adversely affects the usage of the CMDB, which impacts the entire ServiceNow Platform.

Asset to CI and CI to Asset synchronization may be broken or new rules may need to be created/maintained

Impact on Your Business

Increase Operational Visibility

Improved Process Alignment

Asset and CI Lifecycle Management is made possible

Process Automation

Increased CMDB and AMDB data accuracy Relational data integrity is improved

Better User Experience

Help Desk and Customer Service management technicians can easily find CI records to relate to Incidents and cases

Service Asset and Configuration Management processes are improved.

Reduce Operational Cost

Optimized procurement

ServiceNow users realize platform usage improvements and decreased effort in completing common tasks.

Out of box automation simplifies employee workstreams.

Engagement Questions:

Consider the answers to these questions:

Do you have a process for managing Asset-to-CI synchronization? Do you have any reports that use the Active CI status for assets?

Do you have a process for creating and managing software entitlements and hardware assets?

If you decided to disable the Create CI on Insert business rule, what was your reason?

Do you synchronize lifecycle status information between the CI and the Asset record?

Have you changed Asset to CI or CI to Asset field mappings included in the base system?

Have you developed a custom process to manage asset lifecycles once an asset is deployed as a CI on the network?

Remediation Plays

Summary

The table below lists and summarizes each of the remediation plays in the playbook. Details are included later.

Play Name

Analysis Play

What this play is about

Check if the Create CI on Insert business rule is enabled. Required tasks

Run the script to see the status of the business rule. Fix Play

What this play is about

Enable the Create Asset on Insert business rule. Required tasks

Complete the steps to enable the Create CI on Insert business rule, and verify that the business rule is enabled. Data Governance

What this play is about

The play explains the importance of using business rules to ensure the accuracy of the CMDB going-forward. Required tasks

Complete the steps to ensure that the business rules are enabled.

Play 1 - Review your data

What this Play is about

This play helps you see if the Create CI on Insert business rule is enabled. This play includes an Analysis Play script you can use to find out.A shell CI should be created when the asset record is inserted. For more information about CIs and Assets, see Asset and CI Management .

Required tasks

Run the Analysis Play script to see if the business rule is enabled.

Review the results of the script. Keep the results of the script open.

If the results show that the Create CI on Insert business rule is enabled (active), you don’t need to do anything else. You have completed the Analysis Play. You can skip to the Governance Play.

If the results show that the Create CI on Insert business rule is missing or inactive (inactive), complete the tasks in the Fix Play.

Play 2 - Fix Play

What this Play is about

In this section you will decide how to best remediate the findings from previous step. If you have a custom Business Rule active in lieu of the out of box version, consider if moving back to out of the box is feasible.

NOTE: Before you simply activate the script, discuss the change with your Asset Manager and Configuration Manager. ServiceNow recommends that the Asset/CI creation is bi-directional so both the AMDB and CMDB have assets/configuration items that were created through the other process. This enables you to get accurate inventory for items obtained outside of your standard procurement process

It is recommended you make this change utilizing your Software Development Lifecycle and Change Management standards. If you decide to keep the Create CI on insert business rule in an inactive state, then document and publish the justification. Additionally, review existing Assets without a reference to a CI record that have been created while the Business Rule has been disabled.

Required tasks

Navigate to System Definition > Business Rules . Set the filter condition to Name *Create CI on insert, and select the Active option on the Status attribute

Change the Active Status from false to true

If you have a custom Business Rule, consider using the baseline script instead. If the custom script provides additional functionality, review if it is still relevant and if an ouf-of-the-box equivalent exists

Data Governance

What this Play is about

The play explains the processes and the usage guidelines you should follow when you create CI records for new Assets. These processes help to ensure the accuracy of the CMDB going-forward.

Keep the following points in mind:

Use the base ServiceNow settings as much as possible Do not alter out of box Business Rules without strong justification Leverage Model Categories to define the Asset Class and CI Class for each device type utilized within your organization. Leverage the Enforce CI Verification feature to selectively create Assets when CI’s are reactively created by a discovery source instead of proactively through a procurement process. Reduce custom attributes in the AMDB and CMDB

Monitor CI creation to be sure CI’s are created when assets are inserted into the AMDB.

Monitor asset creation on CI insert to ensure assets are created when the model category corresponding to the CI class also defines an Asset class. Required tasks

Navigate to System Definition > Business Rules.

Make sure that the following rules are enabled.

Create CI on insert

Create Asset on insert

Update CI fields on change

Update Asset fields on change

If the rules above are disabled and you have valid justification to leave them in their current state, then record the decision for each, and publish it

Congratulations

You have completed this Product Success Playbook.