Workflow of Asset data posting from Endpoint Central to Servicenow

Endpoint Central's integration with Servicenow, has helped IT admins to maintain their ITIL guidelines with unified endpoint management and security solutions. With this integrated setup, all the IT asset movement and requirements are processed at full tilt for a continual improvement of IT management. This document will walk you through the workflow of an asset management in an integrated setup.

Pre-requisite for Endpoint Central - Servicenow integration

Servicenow, one of the well known ITIL services runs on SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) technology. Therefore, when Endpoint Central is to be integrated with Servicenow, it is necessary to grant a read/write privilege to the Admin and technicians of Endpoint Central responsible for operating this integration. A new Servicenow instance is recommended for this integration. In the case of an instance, which is already in use, the IT operations team should check for any naming discrepancies to avoid duplicate entries of SYS_ID.

Workflow of asset data posting

Endpoint Central uses WSDL XML (Web Services Description Language) format to post the IT asset data on the Servicenow table. Firstly, Endpoint Central will check for the computer details (under Endpoint Central scope) in the Servicenow table using the fields computer name and domain name. For computers listed in Servicenow, the SYS_ID of those computers will be obtained by Endpoint Central which will be used to post the respective computer's asset details. If the computer is not found on Servicenow, a new SYS_ID is created, which is used for asset data posting.

Inventory Scan for Asset management workflow

An Inventory Scan is triggered from Endpoint Central to gather all the necessary information, which is then posted on the Servicenow table. From the data fetched through the Inventory Scan, the asset data is collected.

Frequency of Asset data posting

Asset data posting happens during the following situations:

• When the scheduled Inventory Scan takes place. This schedule is configured in the Endpoint Central console.
• During an On-demand scan operation.
• When a software is installed/uninstalled from the managed network.

What data is posted?

• Asset data: This includes the basic details of a computer such as the processor used, number of processors, disk space, device model, Operating System etc..
• CPU Data: This data will enumerate the details of the CPU used by the computer, such as CPU name, CPU manufacturer, CPU core count etc..
• Network Data: This category provides all the details involved in communicating in the network layers, like: MAC address, IP address, MAC manufacturer, DNS Domain, DHCP status etc..
• Software Data: This includes all the details about the software installed on any of the managed computers such as: software name, version, installed date etc..

The data gathered will be stored in the Servicenow cmdb table under multiple tables depending on factors such as the type of data, whether it is a network level data; software data or hardware data. Here is the list of Servicenow tables, where data is stored:

• cmdb_ci_computer
• cmdb_ci_network_adapter
• cmdb_ci_spkg

To know more about the Servicenow cmdb table, visit this page.

Endpoint Central Plugin:

When Endpoint Central is enabled as a plugin, it empowers Servicenow users to perform various actions such as:

• Deploying business applications in an instant
• Initiate remote connection to troubleshoot your device
• Perform various Remote tool operations to boost your work environment efficiency
• Detect and remediate incidents with our patching solution
• Perceive instant data on the security health level of your IT network

A guide to help you with this integration.

SOAP APIs used for asset data posting:

1. Computer URL: http://www.service-now.com//cmdb_ci_computer.do?SOAP
2. Software details URL: http://www.service-now.com//cmdb_software_instance.do?SOAP
3. Network adapter details: http://www.service-now.com//cmdb_ci_network_adapter.do?SOAP

• Note: Assign Users Automatically
• In this integrated work environment, Endpoint Central will not receive SYS_ID value from Servicenow but also the username logged in to that particular system. Endpoint Central will compare the username from Servicenow with the username of the user logged into a computer during the Inventory Scan. This will help Admins to map users to their respective computers. This sync will happen once in everyday from the initial scan that happened after integration established. With this data in place, Admins can now assign users to the computers automatically.