What is our primary use case?
We are trying to discover the laptops, machines, network devices, and cloud inventory in our organization by using ServiceNow Discovery. We wanted to have a cross-check between the SCCM and Discovery, and are trying to decide which could be a better choice.
How has it helped my organization?
Basically, when we're talking about ServiceNow Discovery, we have our own instances, and we would be giving IP subnets into it. These IP subnets would contain the range of all the CI's, which are available in the network. Then, once we start the Discovery schedules, it can scan the network and fill in the data, whichever is available on the network.
What is most valuable?
The initial setup is pretty easy.
The solution is fairly stable.
The security is very good. We have encryption supported from ServiceNow and therefore I haven't found any issues surrounding safety concerns.
What needs improvement?
The solution lacks the capability of discovering the devices which are not in the network. That is an area where they could improve upon. In the next release, we are actually looking for a solution for the devices which don't come into the network. Nowadays, because of this pandemic, most of the users are logging in from home, and we don't have any way to discover those assets. We are looking for a solution that can help us to discover those kinds of user devices.
During the initial setup, we get some errors and the solution doesn't exactly understand what they mean or how to fix them. They need to have more of an explanation so that we can accurately go about fixing the errors as they arise.
Technical support has not been helpful when we have come across problems. They take too long to respond and then don't provide helpful information.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution for more than three years at this point.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability overall has been very good. It doesn't crash or freeze. There are no bugs and glitches. It's good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have been increasing pretty extensively. The users are running on a daily basis, and it is becoming one of the major sources for updating all the CI's that exist in the network.
We have an IT team of about 30 or more individuals that are on the solution.
How are customer service and technical support?
We've had to reach out to technical support in relation to the errors we get during setup. They have not been very helpful overall. In most cases, when you raise a ticket, even when it is critical, they take two to three days to respond. Even then, the response really doesn't help us address the issue. We're not very satisfied with their level of support at this time.
How was the initial setup?
It is not complex when setting up Discovery. It's pretty straightforward. That said, what happens is that after you set up the Discovery, there are different errors that you might get when you actually run the product, and that is something that needs to be improved. We get some errors and the solution doesn't give us the full information about what is causing the issue.
In terms of deployment times, it has taken four months for the implementation of ServiceNow Discovery. The strategy was very straightforward. We just we activated the ServiceNow Discovery plugin and then we analyzed the data and started filling in the Discovery details.
What about the implementation team?
We are implementing ServiceNow Discovery for our clients.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I do not know the exact cost, however, I do know that there is one particular subscription charge for the number of the CI spots we use.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We're also looking at SCCM and comparing the two solutions to see which would fit our organization better. The difference between the two, for the most part, is that ServiceNow is agentless, whereas, with SCCM, you need an agent.
What other advice do I have?
We are an implementor. We implement this product for our clients.
We are using the latest version of the solution.
We use different deployment models - both on-premises and on the cloud.
This is one of the best tools for organizations looking for a tool with agentless applications. You do not need to install an agent in any of the CI's. However, if you go for the other solution like SCCM, that is an agent-based solution, where you need to install the agent on all your end-user computers. Therefore, if an organization is looking for an agentless solution, then probably ServiceNow Discovery is a great good option.
Users should have a thorough understanding of how CMDB data tables are structured, and they should also know how Discovery works. You should also have an idea whether you would be integrating asset management along with ServiceNow Discovery or not. If you are going with a flat ServiceNow Discovery, then later on, if you want to implement asset management, then it could be quite difficult.
Overall, I would rate the solution at a seven out of ten. I would rate it higher, however, they aren't transparent when it comes to the meanings of errors we sometimes get during setup.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner