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Why you don’t want to add TVs to Service Manager?

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From time to time, I hear customers that they want to add IT assets such as TV sets into Service Manager Database (CMDB). It is compelling to have a list of items in one place and to use them as configuration items in Incidents and Service requests.

Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is a central repository for all the configuration items in your Service management solution and requires maintenance to keep it up to date. If you have lots of Configuration items (CI) where there is no automated way to update the configuration, your CMDB becomes outdated and useless. Service Manager comes with connectors to import CI information from Active Directory, Operations Manager, Configuration Manager and Virtual machine Manager that makes updates a whole lot easier. You can fill-in your CMDB with all this information in a very short time and keep it updated regularly.

Keep in mind the following when deciding what to import into Service manager:

  • Import items that can be updated: Do not bulk import items manually unless you have a compelling reason. Rely on Service manager connectors to import and keep your configuration information up to date. You can use CSV files to import new objects to Service manager but you will need to update the objects regularly manually using this method.
  • Not all configuration information is useful: Operations manager can monitor devices that have SNMP connectivity such as printers and you can import these objects as CI’s to Service Manager. However just having the technology for updates does not mean you need to import it to Service Manager. Balance the benefit of having the object with increasing the size of your Service manager database.
  • Change in configuration is the key: Rule of thumb for import is to check if configuration of the desired object needs to be tracked. ITIL is all about managing risk and change brings risks. If you have a class of objects that you need to track change in configuration, it might be considered as a candidate for import.

Not all items that can be imported into Service manager brings value. You need to write down the pros and cons and decide accordingly.