---
title: GCP cloud discovery methods and use cases
description: Comparison of use cases and requirements for cloud discovery methods in GCP.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/it-operations-management/discovery/gcp-discovery-methods-use-case.html
release: australia
product: Discovery
classification: discovery
topic_type: reference
last_updated: "2026-03-12"
reading_time_minutes: 1
breadcrumb: [Discovery for Google Cloud Platform, Discovery for cloud environment, Discovery, ITOM Visibility, IT Operations Management]
---

# GCP cloud discovery methods and use cases

Comparison of use cases and requirements for cloud discovery methods in GCP.

ITOM Visibility offers several methods for GCP cloud discovery. Each method supports different use cases and has its own requirements.

## GCP cloud discovery use cases

|Use case|Cloud Discovery \(Pattern-based\)|Service Graph Connectors|Agent Client Collector for Visibility Content \(without MID Server\)|Agent Client Collector for Visibility Content \(with MID Server\)|IP-based Horizontal Discovery \(Pattern-based\)|
|--------|---------------------------------|------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
|IT Service Management \(ITSM\) - basic and generic virtual CI classes|Yes|Yes|No|No|No|
|ITSM - extended virtual CI classes|No|No|No|No|No|
|ITSM - hardware CI classes|No|Yes|Yes|Yes|Yes|
|Pattern discovery of applications|No|No|No|Most|Yes|
|Tag-based service mapping|Yes|Yes|No|No|No|
|Machine Learning \(ML\)-based service mapping|No|Some|Yes|Yes|Yes|
|Top-down service mapping|No|No|No|Most|Yes|
|Software Asset Management \(SAM\) - package manager|No|Yes|Yes|Yes|Yes|
|SAM - file-based|No|No|No|Yes|Yes|
|Oracle Global License Advisory Services \(GLAS\)|No|No|No|Yes|Yes|
|Certificate discovery|No|No|No|Yes|Yes, without host relationships|

## GCP cloud discovery requirements

<table id="table_zfy_hxl_wgc"><thead><tr><th>

Requirement

</th><th>

Cloud Discovery \(Pattern-based\)

</th><th>

Service Graph Connectors

</th><th>

Agent Client Collector for Visibility Content \(without MID Server\)

</th><th>

Agent Client Collector for Visibility Content \(with MID Server\)

</th><th>

IP-based Horizontal Discovery \(Pattern-based\)

</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>

MID Server

</td><td>

Yes

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

Yes

</td><td>

Yes

</td></tr><tr><td>

Cloud credential

</td><td>

Yes

</td><td>

Yes

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

No

</td></tr><tr><td>

OS credential

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

Yes

</td></tr><tr><td>

ServiceNow agent

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

Yes

</td><td>

Yes

</td><td>

No

</td></tr><tr><td>

Google Cloud Software Development Kit \(SDK\) - all virtual machines \(VMs\)

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

Yes

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

No

</td></tr><tr><td>

Google OS Config agent - all VMs

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

Yes

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

No

</td></tr><tr><td>

Google Cloud Storage buckets

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

Yes

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

No

</td></tr><tr><td>

Network Connectivity Target VM to MID Server

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

Yes

</td><td>

No

</td></tr><tr><td>

Network Connectivity MID Server to Target VM

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

No

</td><td>

Yes

</td></tr></tbody>
</table>