ITOM vs ITSM: Differences, ServiceNow Modules, and Shared CMDB Explained
                     S O F T P R O D I G Y   ·   S E R V I C E N O W  I N S I G H T S
VS
ITOM vs ITSM
ITSM ITOM
Differences, ServiceNow modules and how one Faces the user Faces the systems
shared CMDB turns alerts into faster fixes. Incidents, requests, problems Discovery, monitoring, events 
and changes and automation
Read the full blog  → softprodigy.com One shared CMDB
A single record of every IT component and how they connect
ITSM ITOM
ITSM vs ITOM: what each one manages
IT Service Management IT Operations Management
Faces the user Faces the systems
K E Y  Q U E S T I O N K E Y  Q U E S T I O N
How does a person get help from IT, and how fast? What do we have, how is it connected, and is it healthy?
Users: Service desk agents, change managers, service owners Users: NOC engineers, cloud teams, SREs
Data: Tickets, forms, emails and chats VS Data: Scans, metrics, logs and events
Incident Problem Discovery Service mapping
Change Request fulfilment Event management Monitoring
Knowledge Catalog and SLAs Cloud management
ITSM faces the user. ITOM faces the systems. On ServiceNow, both share one CMDB.
Read the full blog  →   ·   softprodigy.com   ·   Call (516) 673-7070 2
ITSM ITOM
ITOM vs ITSM: seven key differences
I T S M F A C T O R I T O M
Delivering IT services to users Focus Keeping infrastructure healthy and visible
Service desk agents, change managers Main users NOC engineers, cloud and infrastructure teams
How do we help this person, fast? Key question What do we run, and is it healthy?
Incident, problem, change, request Core processes Discovery, service mapping, events, monitoring
Tickets, forms, chats Data source Scans, metrics, logs, events
User-reported Trigger System-detected
MTTR, SLA compliance, change success rate Key KPIs MTTD, uptime, alert noise, CMDB accuracy
Read the full blog  →   ·   softprodigy.com   ·   Call (516) 673-7070 3
ITSM ITOM
ServiceNow ITSM and ITOM modules
I T S M  M O D U L E S I T O M  M O D U L E S
Incident, Problem and Change Management ITOM Visibility
Discovery, Service Mapping, Service Graph Connectors, Certificate 
Management
Request Management and Service Catalog
ITOM AIOps
Event Management, Metric Intelligence, Health Log Analytics
Knowledge Management and Employee Center
ITOM Optimization
AI add-ons: Predictive Intelligence, Virtual Agent, Now Assist Cloud provisioning and cost visibility
ServiceNow AI Platform: one CMDB and shared workflows. It sits above your monitoring tools, pulling their alerts into one CI record.
Common ITSM platforms:  ServiceNow ITSM · Jira Service Management · BMC Helix · Common ITOM and monitoring tools:  Datadog · Dynatrace · Splunk · New Relic · 
Freshservice BigPanda
Read the full blog  →   ·   softprodigy.com   ·   Call (516) 673-7070 4
ITSM ITOM
How ServiceNow connects ITOM and ITSM
Without a shared view: 40 tickets say “the portal is slow”, 300 alerts arrive from five tools, and nobody knows which server is to blame.
1 2 3 2:07 a.m.
ITOM Discovery Service Mapping Metric Intelligence spots a slow 
fills the CMDB with servers, links them to the “Online Payments” 
system signal database; Event Management 
databases and cloud resources service
merges dozens of alerts into one
SHARED CMDB: the same record for  both teams
6 5 4
ITSM Problem Management Incident opens automaticallyChange Management
records the root cause so it doesn't already tagged with affected service 
service response scores fix risk using CI relationships
repeat and priority
Result: the NOC engineer and the service desk agent see the same record. ServiceNow consulting and implementation  →
Read the full blog  →   ·   softprodigy.com   ·   Call (516) 673-7070 5
ITSM ITOM
Do you need ITSM, ITOM or both?
I F  T H I S  S O U N D S  L I K E  Y O U S TA R T  W I T H B Y  T E A M  S I Z E
ITSM
Requests arrive by email with no tracking
Start with ITSM Small teams
Get ITSM basics right first.
BOTH
Changes keep causing outages
Add Discovery to Change Management
Growing teams
ITOM Several hundred servers or multiple 
Drowning in alerts
ITOM Event Management clouds? Bring in Discovery early.
ITOM
Nobody knows what depends on what
Discovery and Service Mapping
Large hybrid estates
Run the full ITOM and ITSM loop.
BOTH
Strong ITSM, but slow fixes
Feed ITOM AIOps into ITSM
For most companies it isn't either-or: you need both, 
just not on day one.
Read the full blog  →   ·   softprodigy.com   ·   Call (516) 673-7070 6
ITSM ITOM
Five ITOM and ITSM mistakes to avoid
T H E  M I S T A K E D O  T H I S  I N S T E A D
Loading the CMDB once and forgetting it Schedule Discovery and name a data owner
Turning every alert into a ticket Filter in Event Management first
Skipping service mapping Map your top five to ten critical services first
Over-customizing Stay close to out-of-the-box so upgrades stay easy
No shared owner Appoint one platform owner across both teams
Most projects fail on data and ownership, not technology. Fix the ServiceNow foundation first  →
Read the full blog  →   ·   softprodigy.com   ·   Call (516) 673-7070 7
ITSM ITOM
ITOM vs ITSM: quick answers
Is ITOM part of ITSM?
Talk to SoftProdigy
No. They're separate disciplines. ITSM manages how services are delivered to users; ITOM manages 
the infrastructure behind them. They work best together.
U S  O F F I C E
78 Oliphant Ave, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
Can you use ITSM without ITOM?
Phone  (516) 673-7070
Yes, and many companies start that way. The limit is context: the CMDB is updated by hand and 
Email  [email protected]
incidents come from users, not systems.
Web  softprodigy.com
What is the difference between ITOM and AIOps? F O L L O W  U S
AIOps is part of ITOM. It adds machine learning to group alerts, detect anomalies and suggest root  Facebook  |  X  |  LinkedIn
causes, so teams see fewer, more useful alerts. YouTube  |  Instagram
Which comes first, ITSM or ITOM? Read the full blog  →
ITSM usually comes first. Discovery should follow soon after, so changes and incidents use real 
infrastructure data instead of manual records. ServiceNow consulting services  →
Read the full blog  →   ·   softprodigy.com   ·   Call (516) 673-7070 8