What is the primary role of Discovery in ITOM?

The primary role of Discovery in IT Operations Management (ITOM) is to identify all configurations related to services. This process involves scanning the IT environment to detect, recognize, and document the various configuration items (CIs) that make up services. By creating a comprehensive map of these CIs, Discovery facilitates the management and understanding of complex service landscapes, aiding in maintaining accurate records in a Configuration Management Database (CMDB).

Accurate identification and documentation of all configurations are crucial for service mapping, which helps organizations to see the relationships and dependencies between different CIs. This holistic view not only enhances service delivery and incident management but also supports change management by providing insights into how changes to one component can affect others.

In comparison, while managing cloud resources, tracking application performance, and analyzing service costs are essential activities in their own right, they are not the core focus of the Discovery process in ITOM. Discovery primarily serves as the foundational step that informs and supports these other functions by ensuring that there is a clear understanding of what resources are available and how they are configured within the infrastructure.