We will deprecate the Cloud compute asset type hierarchy in our IT asset management module by May 2025. This deprecation enables consistency in discovering IT assets across all asset discovery sources in Freshservice under a single hierarchy.
Cloud compute assets like Azure VM are discovered from multiple sources, such as Probe, Agent, and Cloud application integrations. To maintain a single record for every discovered Cloud compute asset and avoid duplication, we will map the Cloud compute assets under new Hardware asset sub-types irrespective of the discovery sources.
Multiple representations of the same asset lead to conflicting records, and it’s hard to maintain a single source of truth within the CMDB. By centralizing all compute assets under a single hierarchy, we will eliminate redundant records to ensure that each asset has one primary entry, improving data integrity. Further, this not only reduces the manual effort in reconciling duplications but also streamlines lifecycle management from deployment to retirement.
Overall, deprecating the Cloud compute asset type and standardizing with the Hardware asset type will provide several benefits, such as unified asset management, improved data accuracy, enhanced reporting and analytics, greater workflow reliability, and simplified asset reconciliation.
CONTENTS
- What will change after this deprecation?
- How do I know if this deprecation impacts me?
- What is the impact of this deprecation?
- What should you do?
What will change after this deprecation?
To support a standard asset type classification, we will introduce new asset sub-types under the Hardware asset type for the assets discovered via cloud management applications.
All Cloud compute asset types and associated sub-types will be mapped under the Hardware asset type and its new associated sub-types. The following table provides the mapping details:
| Cloud compute assets (existing mapping) | Hardware assets (new mapping) |
|---|---|
| Cloud - Host | Hardware - Computer-Host |
| Cloud - Host - VMware VCenter Host | Hardware - Computer-Host - VMware Host |
| Cloud - Virtual Machine | Hardware - Computer-Server |
| Cloud - Virtual Machine - VMware VCenter VM | Hardware - Computer-Server - VMware VM |
| Cloud - Virtual Machine - AWS VM | Hardware - Computer-Server - AWS VM |
| Cloud - Virtual Machine - Azure VM | Hardware - Computer-Server - Azure VM |
| Cloud - Virtual Machine - GCP VM | Hardware - Computer-Server - GCP VM |
| Cloud - K8s Node | Hardware-Computer-Server-K8s Node |
| Cloud - K8s Node - AWS K8s Node | Hardware-Computer-Server-K8s Node-AWS K8s Node |
(Post deprecation) To verify Cloud compute asset types (from the above list) are deprecated:
1. Go to Assets > Cloud.
2. Click the Filter icon. Then, click the Hierarchy View icon under Asset Type.
3. Verify that the following Cloud asset types show ‘deprecated’ status.
How do I know if this deprecation impacts me?
If you have Cloud assets discovered via Cloud applications, such as AWS, Azure, VMware, and so on, this deprecation will impact you.
Go to Admin > Asset Management > Cloud Management to verify if you have installed any Cloud applications.
What is the impact of this deprecation?
As part of the deprecation process and mapping of all Cloud compute asset types to their respective Hardware asset types, there will be an impact on the following application-related features:
Assets discovered: All the Cloud compute assets discovered before May 2025 will be automatically mapped to the new Hardware asset sub-types.
Workflows:
- New workflows: We will introduce updated workflows using the new asset type for all the existing workflows with deprecated asset types. These new workflows will be set to ‘Draft’ status by default. We recommend reviewing, testing, and then enabling the new workflows to ensure they meet your needs with the updated asset structure.
- Existing workflows with deprecated asset types: If you have existing workflows configured with the soon-to-be-deprecated Cloud compute asset types, they must be disabled by May 2025. After this date, the existing workflows will not function for Cloud compute assets, as all the discovered assets will be mapped to the updated asset type.
Default and custom fields: For every asset previously discovered with the deprecated Cloud compute asset types, all the default and custom fields listed for each asset will be re-configured.
Curated reports: All the curated reports related to the deprecated Cloud compute asset types will be re-configured based on the new asset type.
Important: Post deprecation, you must create new reports for any Custom reports that reference the deprecated Cloud compute asset types. You should take a backup of each asset type with the export option.
Association and activities related to assets: For every asset previously discovered with the deprecated Cloud compute asset types, all the associations and activities related to each asset will be retained.
What should you do?
- Test the new workflows configured with the newly mapped asset type and enable them. Disable the workflows that are based on the deprecated asset type.
- Create new reports for all the Custom reports based on the deprecated asset types.
For any queries, reach out to us at support@freshservice.com.
