Brace yourself: Your CMDB is probably lying to you.

In a recent proof-of-concept (POC) session, IP Fabric discovered that ABC Energy had 380 devices in their testing environment. That’s all well and good, but the company’s CMDB had 420 devices listed in that same environment, which meant they were paying licensing and renewal fees for 40 devices that weren’t even in production. Extrapolating that out to the entire network, that ran ABC Energy up roughly $300,000 a year. 

Unfortunately, this is a story we’ve heard before. Most CMDBs are missing approximately 20-40% of the devices that are actually in the network. This inaccuracy can cut both ways. In some cases, CMDB inaccuracies create a myriad of unnecessary costs. In other cases, CMDBs can lose track of devices entirely, leaving them unmanaged—and, by extension, unprotected.

As scary as it sounds, all it takes is one unmanaged device to open an organization up to security and compliance risks. If left unchecked, those risks can cost companies:

• $4.88 million per data breach
• $50,000 per month in compliance penalties
• $500,000 per hour in downtime

Not to mention, these risks can also throw a wrench in day-to-day operations and digital transformation projects.

So, what can you do to regain trust in your CMDB? Don’t worry; we’ll walk you through it.

Why is CMDB Accuracy So Important?

Imagine never having to ask “What is this?” or “How did this get here?” when it comes to devices in your network. 

In order to have this level of confidence in your CMDB, you need visibility into every device, connection, and configuration across your infrastructure. That visibility has a critical impact in three core areas, ranging from security to operations to compliance.

How Does CMDB Accuracy Affect Security?

You can’t patch a device if you don’t know it exists. Let’s say a device is never logged in your CMDB, and it goes unmanaged. That device could be a threat actor’s ticket to bypassing your firewalls, segmentation, and other security controls. 

With an accurate CMDB, you know exactly what’s on your network and where you can find it. Every device is visible, which means that security teams can check where rules are applied, and fix any gaps before they’re exploited. 

CMDB accuracy also opens the door to security automation. Instead of manually reviewing and updating policies, security teams can leverage solutions like Nautobot to roll out automated policy updates. That way, devices stay patched, controls stay current, and the attack surface shrinks instead of looming larger.

How Does CMDB Accuracy Affect Operations?

Without a solid understanding of your CMDB, it may feel impossible to move forward with large-scale projects. The research doesn’t lie; last year, nearly half of all large IT projects were reportedly behind schedule and over budget, many of them because of incomplete network visibility. 

If your CMDB doesn’t match your network reality, then you can’t accurately map dependencies. And if you can’t map dependencies, then any change you make could lead to surprise consequences that put your network at risk.

How Does CMDB Accuracy Affect Compliance?

PCI DSS, NERC CIP, and HIPAA: all of these compliance frameworks require proof that you maintain an accurate inventory. For instance, PCI DSS explicitly requests:

• An accurate network diagram that shows the connections between your cardholder data environment (CDE) and other networks (requirement 1.2.3)
• An accurate inventory of system components (requirement 2.4)
• Proof that you’ve patched and / or removed any unsupported software (requirement 6.3.3)
• Proof that you regularly review your hardware and software technologies (requirement 12.3.4)

Read more about the CMDB requirements for PCI DSS and other frameworks in our dedicated compliance e-Book.

Learn more by visiting our compliance hub. 

How Does IP Fabric Help with CMDB Accuracy?

Enter: IP Fabric’s dedicated ServiceNow CMDB extension. 

IP Fabric starts by taking a snapshot of your network, including all devices and dependencies. Then it compares this snapshot with the Network Gear Table in your ServiceNow CMDB to highlight any inconsistencies. 

While ServiceNow is able to discover the network to a degree, IP Fabric takes it to a new level of detail by going beyond SNMP and CDP. Instead, the platform discovers the way a network engineer would: by hopping from device to device to map the network until it’s 100% complete. As a result, IP Fabric can discover transparent firewalls and IPSec tunnels, while most non-specialized discovery tools can’t. 

Let’s take a closer look at how this all comes together, and what it means for your CMDB.

How Does IP Fabric Discover Your Network?

IP Fabric integrates directly with your ServiceNow CMDB via a seamless API connection. 

Whenever you run a snapshot, IP Fabric uncovers 100% of the devices, connections, and configurations in your infrastructure. After syncing this snapshot with ServiceNow, IP Fabric reveals:

• Devices that were found in ServiceNow, but not in IP Fabric: This indicates that devices may have been taken out of production, and should be retired to prevent unnecessary costs. 
• Devices that were found by IP Fabric, but are missing in ServiceNow: This indicates that devices may be unmanaged, and should be reviewed for security and compliance.
• Devices that exist in both platforms, but have different attributes: This indicates that ServiceNow records are in need of correction, which can also pose a risk to security and compliance. 

After implementing IP Fabric in their ServiceNow CMDB, one CISO felt confident enough to fully automate their network inventory management. This meant they could remediate security and compliance issues faster, all while de-risking their day-to-day operations. The best part? They didn’t have to overhaul their observability stack to do it.

How Does IP Fabric Map Dependencies?

In addition to discovering all network devices, IP Fabric provides ServiceNow with the data and context it needs to map and visualize all level 1, 2, and 3 dependencies. These maps include transparent firewalls, IPSec tunnels, and more, all so you have the most complete context for your infrastructure’s behavior. 

If you discover an unpatched device, you can see if any other devices are at risk for attack. If you’re preparing to make a change, you can proactively see how it might impact any critical applications. And last, but not least, if you’re preparing for a compliance audit, you’ll have automated documentation at the ready—but we’ll get into that more in the next section.

Watch the full demo or talk to an expert today.

How Does IP Fabric Help with Reporting?

So, IP Fabric’s discovered your inventory and mapped your dependencies. What do you do with that data?

Simple: IP Fabric generates a “trust score” based on the discrepancies it finds between your network snapshot and your ServiceNow CMDB. That score reveals the current state of your network, as well as the possible financial impact of any security, operations, and compliance risks. 

From there, it’s easy to print and share the HTML report so your team can take steps towards building a more secure and resilient network. 

Watch the full demo or talk to an expert today.

Ready to Take Control of Your CMDB? 

Think back to our first example with ABC Energy. Now that they have IP Fabric, they can spot any ghost devices before their next renewal bill hits—avoiding that $300,000 price tag. On top of that, they can spot any missing devices or data inconsistencies from the start, preventing any unforeseen security or compliance costs from adding up. 

This story shows how CMDBs can be transformed from a liability to a living source of truth, provided that it has the right visibility. 

Talk with one of our experts to check your ServiceNow CMDB accuracy today. 

Watch our 30-minute webinar on “Unlocking CMDB Accuracy: The Hidden Key to Cost Savings, Automation, and Risk Reduction.”

FAQs

How Does CMDB Accuracy Affect My Bottom Line? 

CMDB accuracy is vital to your network security, operations, and compliance. Inaccuracies can bring steep financial costs. Security breaches run an average of $4.8 million apiece. Downtime can cost as much as $500,000 per hour at the enterprise scale. And compliance penalties can set you back up to $50,000 per month, depending on the severity of the violation. 

The best way to mitigate these costs? Maintaining an accurate CMDB. 

When you trust your CMDB, you can:

• Proactively address any security risks caused by missing or unmanaged devices. 
• Anticipate the effects of network changes to avoid downtime. 
• Maintain audit-ready evidence for security and regulatory frameworks

All in all, an accurate CMDB is the key for building a more resilient and cost-effective network.

How Does IP Fabric Improve ServiceNow CMDB Accuracy?

IP Fabric takes a full snapshot of your network and compares it against the records in your ServiceNow CMDB. That validation highlights three types of discrepancies: 

• Devices listed in ServiceNow, but not found in the network.
• Devices missing from ServiceNow. 
• Records with mismatched attributes.

By exposing these gaps, IP Fabric ensures your CMDB reflects the real state of the network, giving you a reliable foundation for security, operations, and compliance.

ServiceNow Can Map Dependencies. Why Do I Need Another Tool? 

ServiceNow can map dependencies, but the tool’s visibility is limited, and it can’t capture the depth and breadth of insights that IP Fabric can. For instance, IP Fabric can discover and map transparent firewalls and IPSec tunnels, while ServiceNow cannot.

Can IP Fabric Help With Change Management in ServiceNow?

Every network change carries risk, especially when dependencies aren’t clear. IP Fabric maps level 1, 2, and 3 dependencies across your network and validates them against your ServiceNow CMDB to ensure accuracy. With this continuous assurance, you can see how any proposed change may affect critical applications before you implement it, resulting in fewer surprise outages.

Can IP Fabric Help with ServiceNow Automation?

Yes. IP Fabric validates your ServiceNow records against snapshots of your actual network behavior. This way, you can be sure that any automated workflows are based on the most current and up-to-date network state. If IP Fabric detects any risks during the validation process, it automatically creates a ticket in your IT Service Management Systems (ITSM) so that your team can promptly address them.

How Quickly Can We See Results From ServiceNow Automation?

Using a tool like IP Fabric, you’ll get your first network snapshot in a matter of minutes. Once you have your snapshot, you can use it to validate your records in ServiceNow. From there, IP Fabric will generate a report that will guide you on how to address any risks.