IP Address Request - service catalog. How do you do it?

Hi.

I'm looking into ideas how to handle these kind of requests. Obviously the goal is to automate it as much as possible.

What do we have right now?

• ServiceNow, that provides us with CMDB - in this case we're talking mostly about switches (we have some issues here and there but I'd say it's pretty accurate and good);

• IPAM with API support (I know its' structure and I believe it can do all we want in regards to IP requests);

• Ansible AWX which synchronizes inventory with ServiceNow. Pretty amazing if you ask me.

How do we handle it now?

User goes to service catalog, finds our entry and fills the data:

• requester

• site

• switch/switchport/outlet (we have patching tables for less than 50% of sites so that involves manual work)

• device(s) type

• how many IPs are needed (of the same type)

• MAC addresses (not really needed - usually users don't know it)

• Reason, additional info, etc.

As you can see, there are several shortcomings (the biggest one being that our Item Designer entry doesn't allow multiple different types of devices). We receive requests ranging from single IP to over 80(!) - so there's that. Don't think we can automate latter.

It's all handled manually now, but I could parse variables created by the request and work with them. However, we want to go further.

I have an idea but I don't know if SNow can handle it.

1. User selects site.

2. User provides how many IPs are needed (i.e. up to 5-10 to make GUI bearable; more would be handled manually via Excel and scripting). Depending on the number, several copies of the section outlined below (points 3-7) would be submitted.

3. User can select different device type for each device (device type is tied to the VLAN device will land in).

4. User is asked if they need specific hostname. If not, IP address will be separated with hyphens (IP entries in IPAM must have unique names).

5. User is asked if they need static IP or DHCP reservation. Latter triggers automatic DHCP reservation creation via IPAM API.

6. User is asked if device is virtual machine or not. If it isn't, they can provide switch name and switch port, which'll trigger AWX's playbook to configure switchport according to our standard.

7. User can provide additional fields like manufacturer, detailed location and description.

Am I unreasonable, thinking that it can be done without some complex development or dedicated solution?

How do you handle such requests (I'm interested in automated solutions)?

Thanks for all the feedback.