Top integration tools to populate your CMDB
A Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is critical in supporting services such as Incidents and Change & Asset Management. Most companies dream of having a beautifully populated CMDB, but struggle with how to make this a reality as the process can be quite daunting!
But never fear there are loads of tools you can buy to do just this! Typically, there are three types of solutions designed to populate your CMDB, these are either agent-based, scanner, or integration style tools.
Scanner solutions are generally more expensive, time-consuming to implement, and use network crawlers & port-scanners, to search your systems and discover the data. This is quite an invasive process of discovery, which can compromise your network’s security. You can find out more about this in our previous blog, ‘Overcome security challenges with ServiceNow CMDB population’, where we review the challenges of using ServiceNow Discovery to unveil your infrastructure topology.
Agent-based tools require an agent, basically a piece of software to be installed, on all devices that are to be cataloged in the CMDB. Anyone that has set up a conventional agent-based tool (e.g. anti-virus), will know how much work this process can entail with endpoints requiring connectivity and permissions for agents to be deployed.
hence, the level of security invasion and or set up time, required by agent and scanner-based solutions, is often insurmountable or at best a major hurdle for businesses wanting to populate their CMDB.
Integration tools take data from where it already lives and repurpose it to populate your CMDB, for example, Cookdown Discovery & ServiceNow Service Graph Connector.
In this blog, we will be focusing on the top integration tools so you can populate your CMDB, without exposing your network’s security. So, here are your best options:
ZigiWaves ZigiOps
This is a code-free integration tool offering more than 30 different enterprise software tools for real-time, seamless end-to-end data synchronization. It claims to provide a deep level of integration for any use case, no matter how complex. It also boasts a simple, robust, and easy to navigate UI. However, it is an on-prem tool so you need to install and setup all this on your own systems. Except for this, it appears to be an easy to implement & flexible solution – a great tool for the job!
Blazent
This solution delivers quality and integrity, claiming to achieve 99% data accuracy in your CMDB. Data can be taken from any data source and imported into your CMDB, to give confidence in the accuracy of ITSM operations and business decisions. Although Blazent’s recommended ‘CMDB Migration Methodology’ is fairly lengthy, doing the hard work upfront will mean, the quality, completeness, and accuracy of your data will be worth it in the end. You will need to allocate a fair amount of time to implement this solution, as the methodology will require some consultancy and it is not clear how the technology is implemented (on-prem, SaaS or managed by consultants).
Flexera FlexNet Manager
Flexera’s suite of products are designed to collate all your IT assets, enabling you to better manage and optimize licenses, vendor relations, and contracts more efficiently, whether they are housed on-prem or in the cloud.
Once integrated with your ITSM vendors, you will be able to assess the impact of hardware and software changes, plus, consolidate data on your software titles (publisher, title, version, edition, etc), across multiple platforms.
While this is an impressive solution, it is not a complete answer to CMDB population as it is geared more at Software Asset Management (SAM), which is about maintaining an inventory of hardware and licenses to ensure you comply with license agreements rather than an accurate and up to date CMDB. However, there are some useful data hygiene features to make sure the names in your CMDB are consistent, but the data it discovers primarily touches on Software Asset and Configuration Management (SACM) so is not deep enough to provide a one-stop shop! Hence, this solution is more suited to the challenges and deep pockets of large enterprises.
ServiceNow IntegrationHub ETL & Service Graph Connector
ServiceNow has developed a set of tools that use integration rather than security invasive scanning techniques. We believe these tools are sold with ServiceNow Discovery (a scanning tool), so they are not stand-alone but will offer you some advantages when it comes to connecting areas of your network where you don’t want to compromise security.
The IntegrationHub ETL creates and manages Extract Transform Load (ETL) transform maps, these input third-party data into the CMDB, in a similar way to other ETL tools. This part is easy to implement with a simple UI that guides you through the integration process, including a test integration setting. The hub uses both Runtime Environment (RTE) and IRE to process, integrate, and reconcile the data in your CMDB, ensuring it is current and accurate.
The biggest downfall of the IntegrationHub ETL for CMDB creation is you need to create the transform maps yourself, this can be laborious depending on the amount of data you want to pull and how many sources you have to pull data from.
Plus, you’ll probably also need to use the ServiceNow Service Graph Connector which builds on the IntegrationHub ETL, by implementing custom connectors for multiple data sources (e.g. SCCM), as this will take away the pain of creating transform maps. Unfortunately, there are not connectors for all service providers in the ServiceNow Store, so you either pay for these add-ons or build them yourself.
For an integration solution, this package is best viewed as a complementary set of tools for ServiceNow Discovery rather than a stand-alone integration solution. So, you’ll need a hefty budget and lots of time to bolt on all the extras if you want to get the most out of this setup!
Cookdown Discovery
Our solution synchronizes SCOM and ServiceNow to fast-track the population of your CMDB. We use no agents, no firewalls, or permissions. Our true integration process pulls Configuration Items (CIs) from an existing system, to quickly uncover the breadth and depth of your IT infrastructure.
Cookdown Discovery can be extended to support any Microsoft or third-party Management Pack, such as Azure and Oracle. It can also be modified to meet the needs of your CMDB, with flexible mapping options and scheduled discovery settings.
Not only does the user-friendly UI make it simple to set up in a matter of minutes, but it can also be integrated with SquaredUp Dashboards, so you can see your data through a single plane of glass.
So, if you’re looking for a simple solution then look no further, you can even take a free 30-day trial and give it a test run, just go to Cookdown Discovery.
We’ll be honest we’ve never had a customer take a trial and not go on to purchase our product and the good news is there are three pricing tiers, so something to suit every business and budget!
Good old fashioned data entry
And of course, if none of these tools work for you then you can always consider manually entering the data, but this can consume many hours and is only as reliable or accurate as the last person to process the information.
In summary, the tool you choose will be dependent on the complexity of your business and the time you have available to populate and manage your CMDB. Here at Cookdown, we know how important seeing the product in action before you buy it can be, hence the free trial, choosing a tool to populate your CMDB is a big decision and you need to ensure it meets your business needs now and in the future. Our solution really is plug and play, this is why we are able to publish our pricing, which means you won’t find any hidden consultancy or setup fees.
If you enjoyed this blog, you may also like to take a look at:
How to Overcome security challenges with ServiceNow CMDB population