In ServiceNow, the Duplicate CI Remediator is designed to resolve duplicate records while preserving the most authoritative data from each source. Data Foundations guidance clearly states that automated discovery is the system of record for technical attributes, such as IP address, hostname, and operational status, while manually maintained records often contain valuable business context, such as relationships to business applications or services.
In this scenario, the discovered CI contains the most accurate and up-to-date technical data, making it the correct CI to retain as the primary record. However, the manually imported CI has a critical relationship to a business application, which is essential for impact analysis, incident prioritization, and CSDM alignment. Deleting this CI without preserving the relationship would result in loss of business context and reduced CMDB value.
The Duplicate CI Remediator supports selective merging, allowing administrators to retain one CI while merging specific attributes or relationships from the duplicate. Option C reflects this best practice by retaining the discovered CI and merging the relationship from the manually imported CI, ensuring both technical accuracy and business relevance are preserved.