Asset and CI management

Asset and CI management Asset and CI management

Asset and configuration item (CI) management refers to creating assets, setting appropriate states and substates, synchronizing assets and CIs, managing consumables, and retiring assets.

Relationship between asset and CI It’s important to manage the relationship between assets and associated CIs. Assets are tracked with the Asset Management application, which focuses on the financial aspects of owning property. Configuration items are stored in the CMDB, which is used to track items and make them available to users.

When an asset has a corresponding configuration item, the asset record and the configuration item record are kept synchronized with two business rules.

Update CI fields on change (on the Asset [alm_asset] table) Update Asset fields on change (on the Configuration Item [cmdb_ci] table)

Note: Assets and CIs can be synchronized only if they’re logically mapped.

Asset-CI mapping and synchronization The State field of asset record and Status field of CI record are synchronized so that changes made on one form trigger the same update on the corresponding form, ensuring consistent reporting.

Note: The Now Platform synchronizes updates between assets and configuration items only if the asset and configuration item are pointed toward each other.

The following diagram illustrates the concept of Asset-CI mapping and synchronization.

Figure 1. Overview of Asset-CI mapping and synchronization

This synchronization and mapping is based on the following factors:

Asset state and CI status aren’t mapped on one-to-one basis. Rather they’re mapped to the most logical counterpart on the other table. For example, for a hardware asset set to state In Stock - Pending disposal , the corresponding CI is set to In Disposition with no substate. This synchronization happens between the asset’s State field and the following CI fields: Install Status field: Install Status doesn’t have a sub status and must be used for non-hardware CIs. Hardware Status and Sub status field: Hardware Status is visible only for Hardware CI. Drive changes by updating the state on the Asset form. The Asset-CI synchronization can be driven in the following ways:

Asset to CI synchronization: Change to the asset’s status updates the logically mapped CI’s Install Status or Hardware Status and sub status. CI to Asset: Change to the CIs activate Status or Hardware Status updates the logically mapped asset’s states and sub states. For a CMDB hardware CI, if both Hardware Status and Install Status is updated, the Hardware Status change is considered for mapping the corresponding state of the asset. CIs Install Status and Hardware Status work independently, so the two fields aren't related. CI’s Hardware Status change doesn’t change CIs Install Status and vice versa. To avoid confusion, keeping both status for CMDB CI Hardware isn’t recommended.

List of the fields that get synced between Asset and CI When changing any of the following fields on the asset or CI record, the same field on the corresponding record is automatically updated (except for the Cost field, which is informational-only on the CI record).

Following is a list of fields that are synchronized.

Asset tag Assigned Assigned to Checked in Checked out Company Cost (synchronizes in only one direction: asset to CI) Cost center Delivery date Department Due in Due GL account Install date Invoice number Justification Lease id Location Managed by Model (model_id in CI) Order date Order received Ordered Owned by PO number Purchase date Purchased Serial number Support group Supported by Vendor Warranty expiration

Asset and CI creation properties glide.create_alm_asset.async The system property glide.create_alm_asset.async controls whether assets are created immediately when a configuration item (CI) is created, or are created after a delay. A delay in asset creation allows large numbers of CIs to be created quickly. When this property is set to true , assets are created by the Asset - Create asset delayed sync scheduled job that runs every 15 minutes. View the status of the scheduled job in the Asset Job Log table [asset_job_log]. To view assets waiting to be created and asset creation errors, navigate to Asset > Administration > Asset Creation Queue . To reprocess an error, update the state from Error to Ready . The next time the scheduled job runs, it reattempts to create the asset.

When the glide.create_alm_asset.async property is set to false , assets are created immediately from CIs. Note: If you upgrade to Utah from Orlando or earlier, the default value of this property is false . Before updating this property, review your processes that depend on an asset value present on a CI and make any necessary changes to account for delayed asset creation. glide.asset.create_ci_with_ire The system property glide.asset.create_ci_with_ire enables CIs to be created from assets using the ServiceNow® Configuration Management Database (CMDB) Identification and Reconciliation engine (IRE). This property affects CI classes that have an identification rule on serial number and have no dependent relationships with other CI classes. Note: CI classes that are extended from the hardware CI class [cmdb_ci_hardware] are also created from assets using the IRE and are controlled by this property. CIs created with the IRE are named using the format Serial number - Model name and the source is SNAssetManagement . The Serial number field is required on assets with model categories that correspond to these CI classes. Asset creation fails if its serial number is present on an existing CI or asset. The Serial number field is also required to receive purchase order line items for model categories that correspond to these CI classes. The Serial number field isn’t required to create pre-allocated assets, but the serial number must be provided when the asset is allocated. The default value of this property is false if you upgrade to from or earlier. Before updating this property, review the customizations on the Serial number field and any integrations or flows that use an existing serial number to create an asset.

Parent Topic: Asset Management Create assets

You can create hardware, software license, consumable, license, software entitlement, and facility assets.

Role required: asset

Navigate to All > Asset > Portfolios > All Assets . Select the type of asset you want to create. Click New . Fill in the fields. Table 1. Asset record fields Field Description Display name Name of the asset as it appears in record lists. Automatically set when asset is created, based on Asset Tag and Model fields. Model category Model grouping of the asset. Based on the model category selected, the asset can be linked to a configuration item. Model Specific product model of the asset. Configuration Item CI automatically created when this asset is created. The name that appears in this field is based on Serial number and Model . Point to the reference icon to see the configuration item details inherited from the asset record. Quantity Number of items this asset represents. An asset always has a quantity of one unless one or more of these points are true. It is a consumable. Quantity is unrestricted because consumables are tracked in groups. It is pre-allocated. Quantity is unrestricted when Model category and Model are defined and Substate is set to Pre-allocated . General Not all fields are available for each type of asset.

Asset tag Alphanumeric information assigned by your organization to help track the asset. State Current state of the asset, such as On order or In use . Assigned to Person using or primarily responsible for this item. This field is visible when the asset state is In Use . Managed by Person who maintains the asset. This can be different from the person in the Owned by field. Owned by Person who has financial ownership of the asset. This can be different from the person in the Managed by field. Parent Parent asset of the asset. For example, a monitor or peripheral can have a workstation as their parent asset. When a parent link is defined, the fields related to assignment and state of the child assets is set to read-only and are populated based on the parent assignment and state fields. For more information, see Bundled models . Class Asset group, for example, base, hardware, license, or consumable. Comments Information about the asset that would be helpful for others to know. Serial number Serial number of this asset. Substate Current substate of the asset. The available substate settings depend on the state selected. For example, the Retired state contains the Substate options Disposed , Sold , Donated , and Vendor credit . Location Current physical location of the asset. Department Department to which the asset belongs. Company Company or organization to which this asset belongs. Assigned Date on which the asset was assigned to a user. Installed Date on which the asset was installed. Financial The Financial section is only available for hardware, software entitlement, and facility assets.

Request line Requested item to which the asset is linked. Invoice number Invoice under which the asset was billed. Cost Price at which the asset was purchased. Vendor Vendor from which the asset was purchased. For assets automatically created from purchase orders in Procurement, the default value of the Vendor field is the vendor specified on the purchase order. Opened Date on which the requested item record was opened. The system automatically populates the field when a request line is specified. GL account General ledger account number with which the asset is associated. Cost center Group financially responsible for the asset. Acquisition method How the asset was acquired. Base system choices are Purchase , Lease , Rental , and Loan . For assets automatically created from purchase orders in Procurement, the default value is Purchase

Expenditure type The type of expenditure. Capex : Capital expenditure is a one-time expenditure, where the value is realized over the years. For example, a photocopier. Opex : Operational expenditure is an on-going expenditure. For example, toners for the photocopier. Disposal Disposal order number A unique number assigned to the asset disposal order.

Note: This field appears only if you have installed Hardware Asset Management from the ServiceNow Store . Disposal vendor The vendor assigned to carry out the asset disposal order.

Note: This field appears only if you have installed Hardware Asset Management from the ServiceNow Store . Vendor disposal order ID Order number assigned by the vendor assigned to carry out the asset disposal order.

Note: This field appears only if you have installed Hardware Asset Management from the ServiceNow Store . Disposal date The date when the asset disposal order process is completed.

Note: This field appears only if you have installed Hardware Asset Management from the ServiceNow Store . Disposal reason Text explaining why the asset is being retired. Beneficiary Organization that receives the asset when it is retired. Resale price Value of the asset when it is retired. For example, if the asset is donated, the value used when reporting taxes. Scheduled retirement Scheduled date on which the asset is retired. Retired date Actual date on which the asset was retired. Depreciation The Depreciation section is only available for hardware and facility assets.

Depreciation Depreciation method that is applied. Base system choices are Declining Balance and Straight Line . The depreciation value is defaulted from the associated Model. Depreciation effective date Date on which the specified depreciation method begins. Salvage value Estimated value of an asset at the end of its useful life. This value must be less than or equal to the Cost of the asset. Residual date Number of days that have passed since the Depreciation effective date . Residual value Value in the Cost field with the depreciation method applied. Depreciated amount Amount the asset has depreciated. Contracts The Contract section is only available for hardware, software entitlement, or facility assets.

Lease contract Name of the lease contract that applies to the asset. Warranty expiration Expiration date of the asset warranty. Support group Group managing the contract covering the asset. Supported by Person managing the contract covering the asset. Activities Work notes Work notes are updated for the following cases: Updates to Assigned To , Managed To State , Substate , and Reserved fields of asset. The columns for these fields are audited by default and any update is recorded in the work notes. Work notes for hardware and software assets are updated when asset is received by a purchase order and transfer order. These work notes help in tracking life cycle of the asset. Related links Calculate Depreciation Click to calculate the depreciation amount and residual value. Delete Assets Only Click to delete the assets and not the associated CI. Related lists Assets Assets that are related to the asset you created. Expense lines Expense line associated with the asset

Click Submit .

Retire assets

You can retire an asset at any time.

Role required: asset

After you change the state of an asset to Retired , the Substate field is active. When you retire an asset, the status of related CIs also changes to Retired . Selecting a substate is not required, but can be helpful for tracking and reporting.

Navigate to All > Asset > Portfolios > All Assets . In State , select Retired . Optional: In Substate , select Disposed , Sold , Donated , or Vendor Credit . Click Update .

Delete assets

You can delete an asset at any time.

Note: If an asset is a part of an asset bundle, the asset cannot be deleted.

Role required: asset

A confirmation must be accepted before the asset and components are permanently deleted. If a CI and asset are linked, deleting one also deletes the other.

Only delete an asset to clean up errors. For tracking purposes, the correct method for managing an asset that is no longer in use is to change the state of the asset to Retired .

Navigate to All > Asset > Portfolios > All Assets . Select the check box to the left of the asset Name . In the Actions choice list below the list, select Delete .

Map asset and CI fields

When you map the asset and CI fields, synchronization happens both ways. Changes to either the asset or CI record are updated to the logically mapped record. You can synchronize custom mappings and mappings provided with the base instance.

Role required: admin or asset Note: If you upgraded from a prior release and customized the AssetAndCISynchronizer script include before the upgrade, you must overwrite the customization and then recreate the custom mappings.

You can conditionally map the fields for synchronization. For example, you can map the Location field only for a hardware asset and not for a software asset. So when an asset is updated, the Location field is synchronized only for the hardware asset.

Navigate to All > Asset > Administration > Asset-CI Field Mapping and click New . From the Asset field list, select the field. This list refers to the alm_asset table. From the Configuration Item field list, select the logically associated field. This list refers to the cmdb_ci table. To create conditions for the mapping, click the Advanced view related link. To specify conditions for synchronizing the asset field with the CI field, use the Asset mapping condition builder. To specify conditions for synchronizing the CI field with the asset field, use the Configuration Item mapping condition builder.

Select the Active check box to activate the mapping. Click Submit .

Map asset state and CI install status

Map the asset State and Substate fields to the CI Install Status field. The Substatus field of the CI Install Status field should not be used for hardware CIs.

Role required: admin or asset Note: If you upgraded from a prior release and customized the AssetAndCISynchronizer script include before the upgrade, you must overwrite the customization and then recreate the custom mappings.

Asset synchronization does not update this field when hardware assets are updated. When you create the mapping, you can set the synchronisation direction from Asset to CI, but not from CI to Asset. For non-Hardware CI classes, you can set the synchronisation in both the directions.

Navigate to All > Asset > Administration > Asset-CI Install Status Mapping . By default, only custom mappings display. The list of mappings uses the filter condition of [Out of the box] [is] [False] . Click New . From the Asset State list, select the state you want to map. Optional: If available, select a substate from the Asset Substate list. Some of the asset states do not have a substate. From the Configuration Item Status list, select the logically associated CI status you want to map. From the Sync direction list, select the direction you want to drive the synchronization. Select the Active check box to activate the mapping. Click Submit .

Map asset state and CI hardware status

Map the asset State and Substate fields to the CI Install Status field. Don't use the Substatus field on hardware CIs because the CI synchronization does not update the field when assets are updated. When you create the mapping, you can set the synchronization direction from the asset, CI, or both.

Role required: admin or asset Note: If you upgraded from a prior release and you've customized the AssetAndCISynchronizer script before the upgrade, overwrite the customization and then recreate the custom mappings.

The Install Status and Hardware Status fields of a CI are independent of each other. There is no correlation between them. A change to the Hardware Status field does not change the CI Install Status field and vice versa.

Navigate to All > Asset > Administration > Asset-CI Hardware Status Mapping . By default, only custom mappings display. The list of mappings uses the filter condition of [Out of the box] [is] [False] . Click New . From the Asset state list, select the state you want to map. Optional: If available, select a substate from the Asset substate list. Some of the asset states do not have a substate. From the Configuration Item status list, select the logically associated CI state you want to map. Optional: If available, select a substate from the Configuration Item substatus list. Some of the CI statuses do not have a substatus. From the Sync direction list, select the direction you want to drive the synchronization. Select the Active check box to activate the mapping. Click Submit .