CASE STUDIES

The City of Whitehorse IT department enables the City to provide efficient services to citizens through reliable technology infrastructure, systems support, and internal service delivery. They were already an established user of Device42. However, the platform was being utilised primarily for manual asset tracking with limited discovery functionality. While some automated scans were in place, much of the Configuration Item (CI) data required manual updates, reducing accuracy and increasing administrative effort.

Additionally, the City sought to expand its use of Device42 to support Application Dependency Mapping (ADM) and to improve visibility across cloud environments through tighter integrations. Without these capabilities fully enabled, understanding application relationships and critical infrastructure dependencies remained a challenge.

To maximise the value of their existing Device42 investment, the City of Whitehorse aimed to transition from manual processes to a more automated, insight-driven configuration management approach. Key objectives included improving CI accuracy through automated discovery, enabling Application Dependency Mapping for critical services, and enhancing cloud visibility to better understand how infrastructure components support business services.

ENGAGEMENT OF DISCOVER-IT

Discover-IT was engaged to assess the existing Device42 deployment and enhance the platform’s configuration to better align with best practices and the City’s operational goals.

*Health Check & Test Environment Setup

Conducted stakeholder workshops with operations, security, applications, and infrastructure teams to capture workflows and priority use cases.

Performed a technical audit covering discovery jobs, credentials, network scans, import/export routines, CMDB data quality, IPAM/DNS integration, ADM, automations, and API usage.

Documented findings, validated fixes in a test environment, and defined a phased rollout plan.

*Discovery & Automation Configuration

Reconfigured and expanded automated discovery jobs to ensure CI information was updated dynamically, significantly reducing reliance on manual data entry.

*Cloud & Database Scans

Updated and optimised cloud discovery scans and implemented database scanning to improve visibility into hosted services and supporting infrastructure.

*Application Dependency Mapping & Business Services

Designed and configured high priority Application Dependency Maps and Business Services, enabling clearer insight into application relationships and the infrastructure supporting critical municipal services.

*Platform Reconfiguration

Fine-tuned Device42 job configurations, discovery settings, and data relationships to improve overall data quality and usability across the platform. 

*Improved Asset Tracking

Enhanced tracking of physical assets, Intune-managed objects, and associated configuration items through automated discovery.

*Greater Infrastructure Visibility

Achieved a clearer understanding of business services and the underlying infrastructure supporting critical core systems.

*Reduced Manual Effort

Automation replaced manual CI updates, improving accuracy while reducing administrative overhead.

*Stronger Operational Insight

Application Dependency Mapping provided the City with actionable insight into system interdependencies, supporting better planning and decision-making.

The engagement with Discover-IT enabled the City of Whitehorse to evolve its Device42 implementation from a primarily manual asset repository into a more automated, insight-driven configuration management platform. By improving discovery, enabling Application Dependency Mapping, and enhancing cloud visibility, the City is now better positioned to understand and manage its critical infrastructure helping their mission of supporting all City departments in meeting their business and corporate objectives.

As a next step, the City of Whitehorse is exploring additional Device42 functionality and integrations, including power monitoring and ticketing system integrations, to further strengthen operational visibility and IT service management maturity.

‘‘Discover-IT played a key role in helping Ottobock successfully deploy and 

optimise Device42. From the start, their team offered expert, hands-on guidance 

and continued to support us with enhancements that aligned the platform to our 

evolving requirements. Their ability to quickly troubleshoot and resolve complex 

discovery challenges ensured a seamless implementation and gave us full, 

accurate visibility into our IT assets and infrastructure. Thanks to Discover-IT, we 

have established a centralised and dependable system that is more flexible and 

capable. We highly recommend their services to any organisation looking to 

strengthen and streamline its IT management capabilities.’’ 

Ottobock faced significant challenges in optimising their IT asset management (ITAM) and data centre infrastructure management (DCIM). The existing systems and processes were often cumbersome and lacked effective oversight. As a result, the company struggled with maintaining accurate inventories due to outdated and suboptimal system configurations, manual IT Asset and limited visibility into server and device configurations. 

To address these issues, Ottobock required more accurate and efficient processes that leveraged automation via DEVICE42 to enhance visibility and control over their IT assets. This was essential to ensure seamless operations across physical, virtual, and cloud environments, enabling them to respond swiftly to changing business demands, and improve overall IT performance. 

ENGAGEMENT OF DISCOVER-IT

Discover-IT was engaged to review and enhance the existing DEVICE42 implementation and ensure that ITAM processes aligned with industry best practices.

*Healthcheck Assessment: Conducted a comprehensive health check of the existing systems, reviewing all system architecture and providing technical teams with comprehensive design documentation.

*Infrastructure Configuration: Configured the EMEA HQ infrastructure to encompass physical, virtual, cloud, and container environments. 

*Discovery Jobs Development: Developed and implemented discovery jobs, scaling the number of remote collectors from 3-4 to 10, significantly enhancing data collection capabilities.

*Software Discovery and Compliance: Addressed software discovery and end-of-life configurations to ensure compliance with licensing requirements.

*Expert Guidance: Provided expert guidance on data centre infrastructure setup, including best practices for rack, power, and network configurations.

Integrated ITAM and CMDB: Successfully integrated IT asset management with the Configuration Management Database (CMDB), effectively resolving data errors.

Enhanced Discovery Capabilities: Improved discovery capabilities through server scans via VMware and agent-based scans while expanding discovery reach with the deployment of 10 remote collectors.

Improved Visibility: Achieved better visibility and management processes for IT assets, streamlining operations.

Capacity Building: Enhanced the internal team's capabilities through comprehensive training and documentation, enabling them to manage the new system effectively.

The project with Ottobock resulted in a robust IT asset management system and optimised infrastructure processes. The implementation of DEVICE42, combined with thorough training and best practices, equipped Ottobock with the tools necessary to enhance operational efficiency and achieve a scalable IT Asset Management solution. Ultimately, this initiative not only improves inventory accuracy and compliance but also positions Ottobock to respond adeptly to changing business demands in a rapidly evolving technology landscape.