CDW’s Get Well Program Targets CMDB Challenges

The configuration management database is a powerful engine in the ServiceNow platform, but many organizations struggle to make the most of its capabilities. They may invest in ServiceNow without realizing they need to also invest in the CMDB, which provides contextual data to support the platform’s advanced features. This might relate to efforts such as modernizing IT service management, understanding how infrastructure and applications support business outcomes, enabling workflow automation or supporting predictive intelligence.

To understand the importance of contextual data, consider a situation where a user who is having trouble accessing a financial management application calls the service desk. To properly address this issue, the service desk agent needs to understand the urgency of the issue and what support team to route the ticket to. Without this context, operational support may be misaligned, which would slow resolution of the problem. 

A contextual CMDB can automatically route the ticket to the right support team based on the type of issue (and its urgency) and proactively alert all defined users that an issue has been detected and is being addressed by the support team. The support team, in turn, will have the information it needs to understand the underlying technology relationships so it can quickly isolate and resolve the issue. A mature CMDB might even include contextual information to predict application performance issues and alert the support team before users are affected. The power of the CMDB lies in this type of contextual data. Knowing how to manage it is critical to deriving value from ServiceNow. 

A key challenge for many organizations that have started using the CMDB is the lack of a defined strategy with prioritized use cases, or a data model (sometimes referred to as a reference architecture) that identifies what data is needed, where it’s coming from and who owns it.  Without this, the CMDB becomes a dumping ground for poorly defined information that can be unwieldy to manage and will short-circuit intended benefits.  

Some well-intentioned CMDB initiatives also fail to incorporate process and governance capabilities necessary to manage the care and feeding of the data and to govern how decisions are made to ensure the CMDB is able to support business-relevant information.  

Organizations often recognize a need for help when they realize they have invested in a platform for modern IT management, yet they cannot leverage its capabilities. CDW’s CMDB Get Well program assists organizations in getting on the path to value by taking a predefined approach with established best practices that focus on building and enabling core competencies.

CDW developed the Get Well program because organizations typically need expert partners to overcome these issues. Most teams don’t have the time or expertise to enable capabilities that depend on the CMDB. They may be able to handle pieces of it, but once the data becomes more complex, the challenge grows beyond their capabilities. 

Our approach works for organizations just starting their CMDB journey, as well as for those that may have gotten stuck along the way. Our program starts with strategic alignment, where we help to build the CMDB strategy with business-focused use cases and a supporting data model. It also builds foundational capabilities that include discovery and a multisource data engine. Throughout the program, we provide enablement to help with process and governance competencies that will position the organization technically, structurally and organizationally to manage data in the future. Then, the organization will be able to take full advantage of ServiceNow’s powerful capabilities.

Story by Dale Landowski, a champion of extending the IT value chain by leveraging digital product and service management practices that provide strong linkage to business strategies. He is a strategic thinker focused on holistic solutions with cost-competitive and customer-centric features.  

Dale brings a diverse background and a big-picture mindset to IT challenges. His career journey includes leadership roles in enterprise architecture, data center operations, product management, ServiceNow program management and executive-level consulting. He is the ServiceNow solutions IT service management practice manager.