Instance Sync Ops are used to specify how business object instances are synchronized between IRM and ServiceNow.
The ServiceNow Integration Service (SNIS) creates an Instance Sync Op for each kind of supported instance object ( Equipment & Software Assets) . The user can create additional Hardware or Software Instance SyncOps.
The process for using an Instance SyncOp is as follows:
Once started, its Lifecycle Stage is set to “Syncing”.
The Run button on SyncOp Manager row changes to a Stop button and the Edit button is greyed out.
The SNIS receives object updates from both the IRM Core Server (when an object is changed in IRM) and the IRM ServiceNow Business Rule (when an object is changed in ServiceNow).
The Lifecycle Stage of the SyncOp remains at “Syncing” unless the user clicks the ‘Stop’ button.
The scope of a SyncOp can be limited to a specific Grouping on either the IRM or ServiceNow side. This enables the user to target the synching to particular sets of objects, while ignoring other objects. The user can choose to setup a Hardware SyncOp to either:
Synchronize object instances placed into an IRM Grouping with the corresponding ServiceNow object.
Synchronize object instances in a ServiceNow Grouping to the corresponding IRM object Instance.
IMPORTANT: This kind of targeted sync can be much more efficient and useful than blindly syncing the entire CMDB and should be carefully considered when configuring synchronizations.
The process of using an Instance SyncOp generally goes through several stages as follows:
Creating new SyncOp in the SyncOp Manager dialog
Note: when a Syncop is created or mode updated to Incremental, the Require Accepted flag is set to true.
Setting up the SyncOp General Tab, which includes specifying properties such as Name for the SyncOp and whether it should create missing external objects or types.
Selecting the Grouping to Sync
The user can choose to Synchronize Objects from an IRM Grouping to ServiceNow by specifying the IRM Grouping
The user can choose to Synchronize a ServiceNow CMDB Grouping to IRM by selecting an entry in the External Group list.
The SyncOp will try and synchronize all the object Instances contained in the selected Grouping to the relevant objects selected for syncing in ServiceNow. As new instances are added to the Grouping, the new object instances are also synchronized with ServiceNow the next time the SyncOp is executed (Manual Mode), or if the Syncop mode is set to Incremental.
Selecting Fields to Sync, which allows the user to specify which system is the source of truth for specific fields of data.
