Modeling your Telecommunications Network Inventory workflow

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Modeling your Telecommunications Network Inventory workflow

    The Telecommunications Network Inventory application enables you to create and manage detailed records of your network assets, forming a comprehensive digital model of your telecommunications network. This digital representation helps you visualize both physical and logical network resources, optimize their utilization, and reduce operational costs. You interact with the network inventory primarily through forms available in the Inventory node within the Network Inventory Workspace List view.

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    Creating Network Inventory Records

    There are three main methods to create network inventory records:

    • Manual creation using inventory forms: You can manually create and review network asset records and define their relationships using forms accessible in the Network Inventory Workspace.
    • Design and assign function: This method requires pre-configuration of inventory models, templates, and relationships to set network design criteria. It initiates change workflows that assign inventory resources and instantiate records, streamlining network design tasks.
    • Resource Inventory Open API: This API allows creation, retrieval, and deletion of network resources, facilitating integration with external systems to manage network inventory programmatically.

    Inventory Models and Templates

    Inventory models and templates establish the structural and business rules framework for your network inventory:

    • Inventory model: Defines the assets, services, and relationships that represent your telecommunications infrastructure.
    • Inventory template: Contains business guidance rules specifying how network assets should be configured.
    • You can create multiple configurations of templates and define relationships between models and templates to tailor your inventory to specific requirements.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Enables creation of an accurate, dynamic digital twin of your telecommunications network.
    • Improves resource visibility and utilization through detailed, structured inventory records.
    • Supports operational efficiency by automating network design workflows and integrating with external systems via API.
    • Provides flexible modeling capabilities with configurable models and templates to match business needs.

    Learn how to create a network inventory record in the Telecommunications Network Inventory application to store the details about your network assets. As you create the records, you can also define the relationship between each inventory record so that you can design a digital model of your network.

    Network inventory workflow overview

    By building an accurate digital representation of your network, you can view your physical and logical resources, improve how those resources are used, and reduce the operational costs of your network.

    You use a series of forms such as telco equipment and network interface, to create and maintain your network inventory records. You can access these forms in the Inventory node in the Network Inventory Workspace List view.

    Methods for creating a network inventory record

    You can create a network record by either of these two methods in the Telecommunications Network Inventory application:
    1. Create network inventory records manually by using inventory forms. With these forms, you can create and review the network inventory records and then define the relationships between them. You can access the inventory form in the Inventory node in the Network Inventory Workspace List view. To learn more, see Manually creating and reviewing your network asset instances.
    2. Create network inventory records by using the design and assign function. Before you start the design and assign function, you set up the inventory model, template, and model relationships for your design criteria. By using the design and assign function, you perform inventory tasks to set a network design criteria that initiate change workflows. With these workflows, you can assign inventory resources and instantiate your network inventory record. To learn more about design and assign function, see Telecommunications design and assign.
    3. Create network inventory records by using the Resource Inventory Open API. The Resource Inventory Open API provides endpoints to create, retrieve, and delete resources in your network. If you’re integrated with an external system, you can get the inventory records by using the Resource Inventory Open API. To learn more about the functions that enable you to query and manipulate Network inventory templates inventory records, see Resource Inventory Open API.

    Inventory model and template

    Inventory models and templates provide a framework for creating network inventory records in the Telecommunications Network Inventory application. A network inventory model contains the assets, services, and the relationships that define the infrastructure of your telecommunications networks. A template contains the business guidance rules on how the network asset must be configured in a network.

    You can create the models, templates, and the relationships between them. You can have multiple configurations of the network inventory templates.​