Data Integrity - Attributes and Data Sources
About 27% of the CIS-HAM exam — see all 5 domains.
Garbage in, garbage everywhere. This domain is about getting trustworthy attribute data into asset records and keeping asset and CI views aligned.
Asset State ↔ CI Hardware Status mapping (a top exam topic)
The asset carries a lifecycle State/Substate. The CI carries a Hardware Status (with Substatus) and an Install Status; the two CI fields are independent. Asset Management keeps asset and CI consistent through configurable mappings, and the sync works only when the asset and the CI reference each other. Know that:
- For hardware CIs, asset State/Substate syncs with the CI Hardware Status (for example, asset In use maps to hardware status Installed).
- For non-hardware CIs, asset State maps to the CI Install Status. The split is by CI type, not by HAM Pro versus classic Asset Management.
Attributes that matter
- Manufacturer = the company that built the device. Vendor = the supplier/reseller you bought it from. They are frequently different, a classic distractor.
- Model (
cmdb_model) classifies the product; Model category governs how the model behaves (asset class, CI class, whether it produces an asset, a CI, or both). Depreciation defaults come from the model record. - Serial number, asset tag, warranty expiration (drives repair-vs-replace), cost / purchase order / contract, assigned to, location, cost center.
Data sources and ingestion
- Discovery populates/updates CIs (and feeds asset attributes) for network-reachable hardware.
- Import sets + transform maps load external data (vendor feeds, spreadsheets). A coalesce field is the match key that lets a transform update an existing record instead of inserting a duplicate. Missing/incorrect coalesce → duplicate records on every run (very common exam scenario).
- CMDB reconciliation rules / data source precedence decide which authoritative source "wins" per attribute when multiple sources disagree (e.g., Discovery vs. the asset record for Location).
Normalization vs. reconciliation
- Normalization standardizes raw values (e.g., "HP", "Hewlett-Packard", "HP Inc." → one canonical manufacturer; Hardware Model Normalization fills normalized manufacturer, product, and model fields; it does not merge models or change the original names).
- Reconciliation aligns asset and CI records (and de-duplicates), working best on already-normalized data. They are distinct, sequential ideas: normalization first, then reconciliation is reliable.
Data hygiene / certification
- Data Certification schedules attestation that specified records meet defined filters/quality rules, generating tasks for owners to correct or confirm data.
- CMDB Health scores Completeness, Compliance, and Correctness; CMDB Data Manager drives attestation/retirement tasks. Healthy CMDB data underpins trustworthy asset data.
Sample questions from this domain
Three of the 79 in this domain, with the reasoning. The full set is in the question bank.
Which field on a hardware asset uniquely identifies the individual physical device from its manufacturer?
- A. Model number
- B. Serial number ✓
- C. Asset tag
- D. Model category
Why: The serial number is the manufacturer-assigned unique identifier for an individual device. The model number is also assigned by the manufacturer, but it identifies the product and is shared by every unit of that model. Model category classifies the product type, and the asset tag is an internally assigned organizational identifier, not the manufacturer's unique ID.
What is the purpose of an asset tag in HAM Pro?
- A. An organization-assigned identifier used to physically label and track an asset internally ✓
- B. A manufacturer-assigned identifier printed on the device at the factory and used for warranty claims
- C. A label generated from the model record that identifies the product type shared by all units
- D. A code that identifies the stockroom and the aisle where the asset is currently stored
Why: An asset tag is alphanumeric information assigned by the organization to label and track the asset internally. The manufacturer-assigned identifier used for warranty claims is the serial number. The product type comes from the Model field and is shared by every unit, so it cannot identify one asset. Stockroom and Aisle and space are separate fields that describe where an in-stock asset is kept.
During reconciliation, ServiceNow attempts to match incoming hardware data to existing records. Which attribute is most commonly used as the primary identifier for matching a physical device?
- A. Purchase order number
- B. Serial number ✓
- C. Model and manufacturer
- D. Cost center
Why: Serial number is the most reliable unique identifier for matching a physical device during reconciliation. Model and manufacturer are shared by every unit of the product, so they cannot single out one device. Assigned to, cost center, and purchase order number are not unique to a single device and can change over time.