Integrating DCIM and ServiceNow: 4 Customer Success Stories
Managing assets, tickets, and workflows across multiple data center sites can be complex and time-consuming. When IT service management (ITSM) and DCIM tools operate in separate silos, teams often face incomplete information, duplicated effort, and limited visibility into the physical infrastructure.
Integrating Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) software with ITSM platforms like ServiceNow ensures that asset, configuration, and ticket data remain aligned across systems. Modern DCIM platforms like Sunbird provide out-of-the-box connectors and RESTful APIs, enabling organizations to synchronize assets, configuration items, and tickets with minimal manual effort.
Below, we highlight four organizations that have successfully leveraged Sunbird DCIM and ServiceNow integrations to improve visibility, reduce manual effort, and optimize workflows.
World Bank: Automated Global Asset Lifecycle Management
Challenge: The World Bank operates 250 racks in colocation facilities, 80 telco closets in Washington, DC, and nearly 400 telco closets worldwide. Managing these assets across spreadsheets and ServiceNow was cumbersome, with limited visibility and frequent manual hand-offs.
Solution: By integrating Sunbird dcTrack with ServiceNow, the World Bank automated the flow of asset data from purchase to deployment. Purchase orders approved in SAP create asset records in ServiceNow’s CMDB, which are then synchronized with dcTrack. Field technicians use ServiceNow tickets to provision assets, updating both systems automatically. Their ServiceNow tickets include links to dcTrack so they can see additional information about the asset and cabinet they are working on. They also plan to get alerts from UPSs and power strips are routed to the network operations center through ServiceNow incident tickets.
Customer Quote: “With data center assets, there’s so much information there that you don’t want to exist in a silo. We want to take that information and use it elsewhere for other groups. The integration capability was probably the biggest factor for us moving to Sunbird.” — Frank Butler, Senior Project Officer, World Bank
Results:
- Streamlined global asset management and lifecycle tracking.
- Automated provisioning and alerting across multiple locations.
- Improved collaboration and visibility for teams managing remote sites.
- Reduced manual effort in asset tracking.
Read the World Bank case study.
eBay: Automating Global PoP Asset Management
Challenge: eBay manages 28 unmanned cages in 22 cities, with 415 cabinets, 800 intelligent rack PDUs, and over 6,600 devices. With about 600 daily activities being entered in ServiceNow, they did not have time to manually enter this information a second time into dcTrack.
Solution: eBay implemented an API integration between dcTrack and ServiceNow. ServiceNow acts as the source of truth for asset information, which is automatically updated in dcTrack. Integration planning included field mapping, phased rollouts by site, and extensive testing to ensure metadata alignment. Daily notifications of any errors allow for rapid remediation.
Customer Quote:
“It’s pretty significant if you were to think about having to do this manually or techs having to contact [us] as administrators and say, ‘Hey, can you do this? Can you update this?’ It would just be almost a nightmare. But it isn’t for us anymore because we are integrated and in pretty good shape.” — Ken Torres, GCS Data Center Engineer, eBay
Results:
- Eliminated duplicate manual entry and reconciliation
- Improved global visibility and standardized processes across sites.
Learn more about eBay’s integration use cases.
NBCUniversal: Integrated Asset and Ticket Management
Challenge: For NBCUniversal, managing thousands of racks across hundreds of sites made it time-consuming and difficult to keep asset records and tickets consistent between ServiceNow and dcTrack.
Solution: NBCUniversal implemented Sunbird’s certified ServiceNow connector. They connected both CMDB and ticketing data, using ServiceNow as the system of record for CMDB while treating both ServiceNow and dcTrack as sources of truth for tickets. Unique keys (serial numbers), value mappings, and filters ensure that only relevant records and locations are synchronized accurately. Linked assets (CIs) are also synced to provide context for impact analysis. NBCUniversal has also configured and tested Power IQ integration with ServiceNow, enabling automatic ticket creation from alerts.
Customer Quote: “We have configured the serial number to be the unique key on the CMDB integration and on the ticketing integration. This allows for the records to be 100% accurate between both systems.” — Manny Peralta, Manager – East Coast Data Centers, NBCUniversal
Results:
- Automated updates and ticket creation across global sites.
- Improved operational efficiency and data accuracy.
- Clear visibility of asset relationships and dependencies.
Learn more about NBCUniversal’s integration use cases.
Large Pharmaceutical Company: Streamlined Work Orders and Asset Management
Challenge: A large pharmaceutical company managing 2,500 cabinets across 70 sites did not have a single source of truth for asset data. Teams needed better workflow visibility and coordination for moves, additions, and decommissions.
Solution: Integration of dcTrack with ServiceNow enabled workflow automation for asset management and incident handling. Work orders for provisioning, relocation, or decommissioning are synchronized between the two systems. Asset updates flow bidirectionally, allowing teams to track progress in real time and remain aligned with open requests.
Customer Quote: “As people request items to be brought into the sites, moved around, or decommissioned and disposed of, we are processing all of that through our work order process which also integrates with our ServiceNow implementation. Asset management is passed back forth between the two systems.”
Results:
- Increased staff efficiency and accountability.
- Better project planning and capacity management through accurate asset data.
- Improved understanding of the IT environment and asset inventory.
- Reduced manual effort in tracking and managing work orders.
Key Takeaways
These examples highlight common lessons from DCIM–ServiceNow integrations that drive efficiency, accuracy, and visibility across data center operations:
- Automation reduces manual work. Integrating DCIM with ServiceNow eliminates duplicate data entry and reduces human error, saving significant staff time.
- Syncing data improves accuracy. Whether using an out-of-the-box connector or APIs, syncing asset and ticket data ensures all teams work from a single, accurate source.
- Global visibility supports decision-making. Automated updates and visibility across teams enable operators to better manage assets and respond quickly to issues.
- Workflow integration boosts efficiency. Linking work orders, ticketing, and asset provisioning streamlines daily operations and improves collaboration.
- Planning and testing are critical. Field mapping, phased rollouts, and validation can help have a smooth, error-free integration.
Bringing It All Together
Integrating DCIM with ServiceNow provides real value. From automating asset lifecycle management to improving incident response, these customer stories demonstrate how Sunbird DCIM empowers data center teams to work smarter and more efficiently.
For data center professionals considering DCIM-ServiceNow integration, these examples illustrate the tangible improvements in accuracy, workflow efficiency, and operational visibility that can be achieved with proper planning and implementation.