⭐ Section 1: ITOM Basics (For Freshers)
⭐ ITOM Interview Questions & Answers
1. What is ITOM in ServiceNow?
Answer:
ITOM means managing all IT operations of an organisation — servers, applications, network devices, cloud, alerts, failures, etc.
ServiceNow ITOM helps companies see everything running in IT, track changes, and prevent issues before they happen.
Example:
Imagine you’re running a hotel. ITOM is like a system that shows:
- which rooms are empty
- which rooms are booked
- which AC is not working
- which light is blinking
This helps you fix problems quickly.
2. Why is ITOM used?
Answer:
Because companies want:
✔ Zero downtime
✔ Better visibility
✔ Automatic discovery
✔ Quick root-cause analysis
✔ Reduced manual work
3. What are the main components of ITOM?
Answer:
ITOM in ServiceNow mainly includes:
- Discovery
- Service Mapping
- Event Management
- Orchestration
- Cloud Management
4. What is a CI?
Answer:
CI = Configuration Item
Anything that needs to be tracked in ITOM is a CI.
Example CIs:
- Server
- Laptop
- Database
- Application
- Router
5. What is a CMDB?
Answer:
CMDB = Configuration Management Database
It is a big database that stores information about all CIs.
Example:
If a server goes down, CMDB helps you know:
- Which app uses that server
- Who owns the app
- Which network is connected
6. What is Discovery?
Answer:
Discovery automatically finds all devices and applications in an organisation and adds them into CMDB.
7. Types of Discovery?
Answer:
- Horizontal Discovery – finds servers, databases, network devices
- Vertical Discovery (Service Mapping) – finds how apps connect together
8. What is a MID Server?
Answer:
MID Server = A bridge between ServiceNow and your company network.
It helps Discovery & Orchestration communicate with internal devices.
Simple Example:
Like a postman delivering messages between ServiceNow and your servers.
9. What is Service Mapping?
Answer:
Service Mapping finds the end-to-end flow of an application.
Example:
For an e-commerce website, Service Mapping shows:
User → Web Server → App Server → Database Server → Payment Gateway
10. What is an Event?
Answer:
An Event is a signal that something happened.
Example: CPU high, memory down, disk full.
⭐ Section 2: ITOM Intermediate (For Both Freshers & Experienced)
11. What is Event Management?
Answer:
Event Management collects alerts from monitoring tools and converts them into events and incidents automatically.
12. What is an Alert?
Answer:
Alert = A notification that something is wrong.
Example: “CPU 95% on Server XYZ”
13. What is an Alert Rule?
Answer:
Alert Rule tells ServiceNow what to do when an alert comes.
Example rules:
- Create an incident
- Change priority
- Assign to team
14. What is Orchestration?
Answer:
Orchestration automates manual work like:
- Reset password
- Restart server
- Create user
- Start/stop services
Think of it as a robot doing IT tasks automatically.
15. Difference between Discovery and Service Mapping?
| Feature | Discovery | Service Mapping |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Finds devices | Maps application flow |
| Scope | Servers, network | End-to-end business service |
| Depth | Broad | Deep |
16. What is Identification Rule in CMDB?
Answer:
It defines how ServiceNow identifies two CIs as same or different.
Example:
Two servers with same Serial Number → consider as same CI.
17. What is a Reconciliation Rule?
Answer:
When multiple data sources update CMDB, reconciliation rules decide whose data is trusted.
18. What is a Pattern in Discovery?
Answer:
A pattern is a template used by Discovery to identify and scan devices.
Example:
Windows pattern
Linux pattern
MySQL pattern
19. What is Health Dashboard?
Answer:
It shows CMDB quality:
✔ Duplicate CIs
✔ Missing fields
✔ Orphan CIs
✔ Stale CIs
20. What is CI Relationship?
Answer:
It tells how two CIs are connected.
Example:
App Server → runs on → VM
VM → hosted on → ESX Server
⭐ Section 3: ITOM Advanced (For Experienced)
21. What is Health Scan in CMDB?
Answer:
Health scan checks accuracy of CMDB based on:
- Completeness
- Correctness
- Compliance
22. What is a Topology Map?
Answer:
A visual map showing how servers, applications, and devices interact.
23. What is Service Graph?
Answer:
Service Graph extends CMDB with deep relationships and application dependencies.
24. What is Metric vs Event?
| Type | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Metric | Continuous measurement | CPU 60%, CPU 70% |
| Event | Sudden change / alert | CPU suddenly 95% |
25. What is a Probe and Sensor (older method)?
Probe: Collects raw data
Sensor: Processes the collected data and updates CMDB
Patterns replaced many probes/sensors.
26. What is Anomaly Detection?
Answer:
AI-based feature that finds unusual patterns.
Example:
CPU usually 40–50%. Suddenly it becomes 90% → anomaly detected.
27. What is Cloud Discovery?
Answer:
Discovery for AWS, Azure, GCP resources like:
- EC2
- S3
- RDS
- Azure VM
- Cloud networks
28. Explain Event → Alert → Incident flow.
- Monitoring tool says “CPU 98%” (Event)
- ServiceNow receives it (Alert)
- If rule allows → create Incident
29. What is IntegrationHub in ITOM?
Answer:
Used for integrating with tools like:
- SolarWinds
- Zabbix
- Nagios
- AWS/Azure
30. What is Application Service?
Answer:
A logical group of CIs that together deliver a business service.
Example:
“Online Banking” includes:
- Web Server
- App Server
- DB Server
- Firewall
⭐ Section 4: Scenario-Based Questions (Very Important)
31. If Discovery is showing duplicate servers, how will you fix it?
✔ Check Identification rules
✔ Check serial numbers
✔ Check IPs are unique
✔ Check Duplicate CI Remediation dashboard
32. Discovery is failing at “Credentials”. What will you check?
✔ Username/password validity
✔ Firewall rules
✔ SSH/RDP permissions
✔ MID Server reachability
33. Alerts are coming but incidents are not created. What will you check?
✔ Alert Rules
✔ Event Rules
✔ Assignment group
✔ Incident creation workflow enabled
34. CMDB CI relationships are broken. How to fix?
✔ Run Service Mapping
✔ Check relationship rules
✔ Re-run Discovery
✔ Fix stale records
35. Application is down. How do you find root cause using ITOM?
✔ Check Event Management alerts
✔ Check Topology Map
✔ Identify failing CI
✔ Check dependencies
✔ Analyse changes from Change Management
⭐ Final Section: Short 1-Line Answers for Quick Interview Revision
- MID Server = Communication bridge
- CMDB = Stores CI details
- Discovery = Finds devices
- Service Mapping = Maps service flow
- Event = Something happened
- Alert = Something wrong
- Orchestration = Automation
- CI Relationship = Connection between CIs
- Pattern = Discovery blueprint
- Topology = Visual map