Revision, operationalization, and decommission of a Configuration Item

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Revision, operationalization, and decommission of a Configuration Item

    The revision process for Configuration Items (CIs) in the Telecommunications Network Inventory application allows ServiceNow customers to safely update network-configured attributes, connection elements, and relations of operational CIs. This process is specifically designed for logical and physical connection CIs, enabling you to make efficient and controlled changes to your network infrastructure without disruption.

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    Revision Process and Workflow

    • Initiate Revision Request: When you create a revision request, the selected CI is cloned along with all related tables such as attributes, connection elements, and relations.
    • Customize Cloning: You can specify which related tables to include in the cloning process, allowing tailored updates.
    • Modify Cloned CI: Changes are made safely on the cloned CI record without affecting the original CI during the update process.
    • Operationalize Changes: Using the operationalization process, the revisions are merged and finalized into the original CI, ensuring seamless integration of updates.
    • Decommission Cloned CI: After operationalization, the cloned CI record is automatically decommissioned, maintaining an efficient and clean inventory.

    Practical Use Cases

    • Updating Logical Connections (e.g., LAG capacity): For example, to add an ENET member to a logical connection, the revise CI clones the LAG and its connections. After modification, operationalization merges the changes back to the original CI, adding the new ENET without network disruption.
    • Updating Complex Network Elements (e.g., Router IP Address): To safely change a router’s IP address, the router CI and related data are duplicated. After updating the IP on the clone, operationalization merges the change back to the original CI, ensuring network stability.

    Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Enables controlled, safe, and efficient updates to network CIs.
    • Prevents network disruption by isolating changes in cloned CIs before merging.
    • Offers customization of cloning to include relevant related data.
    • Automates cleanup through decommissioning of temporary cloned records after updates.

    Revision of Configuration Item (CI) enables you to update the network attributes of a Configuration Item, such as attributes, connection elements, and relations using the Telecommunications Network Inventory application. You can make a safe and efficient update to your network infrastructure by using the CI revision.

    CI revision overview

    CI revisions enable you to modify network-configured attributes and connection elements of an operational Configuration Item. The CI revision is applicable only to logical connection and physical connection CIs. So, you can update all configuration items of a connection, as required with the help of revise CI and its subflows.

    CI revisions enable you to modify network-configured attributes and connection elements of an operational Configuration Item. The CI revision is applicable only to logical connection and physical connection CIs. So, after a logical connection or a physical connection Configuration Item is created, you can update it as required with the help of revise CI and its subflows.

    Operationalization and decommission flow

    Infographic showing the flow diagram of operationalization and decommission. See the following steps for more information.
    The following process guides you through the flow for a Configuration Item (CI) record after a request is created.
    1. Initiate Revision Request: Once you create a revision request, the selected CI is automatically cloned. This cloned CI includes all its related tables such as, attributes, connection elements, and relations.
    2. Customize Cloning Process: You can customize the cloning process and specify which related tables are included. To learn more, see ../task/clone-and-revise-a-ci.html.
    3. Modify cloned CI: After successful cloning, you can perform changes on the cloned Configuration Item record, as required.
    4. Finalize and apply changes: Using operationalization process merge and finalize the changes. This process integrates the revisions into the original CI record. To learn more, see Revise a configuration item using design and assign.
    5. Decommission: After operationalization, the cloned CI record is automatically decommissioned, ensuring an efficient workflow. To learn more, see Decommission an inventory record.
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    Use case

    Let's say, for a logical connection having two ENETs, you want to add another ENET to increase the LAG capacity. So, in this scenario, for a safe LAG update, use the CI revision.

    With the help of revise CI, the LAG and all of its connections are cloned. Then, in the cloned LAG Configuration Item, add the desired ENET member and merge it back into the original CI with the help of operationalize CI. After successful operationalization, all three ENETs are added to the original CI without disrupting the network. To learn more, see Revise a configuration item using design and assign, Operationalize a configuration item. Here, the cloned CI is decommissioned automatically. To learn more, see Decommission an inventory record.

    Let's say, you must update the IP address of a router in your network. This router is part of a complex network, and you aren’t sure how changing the IP address affects the rest of the network. So, in this scenario, for a safe update of the router's IP address, use the CI revision.

    With the help of revise CI, you firstly, duplicate the router CI and all of its related data. Then, you change the IP address of the duplicated router and merge it back into the original CI with the help of operationalize CI. As a result, the changes are applied to the original router without disrupting the network. To learn more, see Revise a configuration item using design and assign and Operationalize a configuration item.