A CMDB (Configuration Management Database) is a database that stores information about your IT environment and its components. A CMDB and the processes that go along with it are the foundation of modern IT – enabling companies to manage information about a variety of IT components at the same time (even if the devices are distributed). In addition to assisting the organization with providing IT services, the CMDB is an essential resource for decision-makers who need the information to improve its cost, quality, and performance Show
CMDB benefitsA central point of reference for all components of IT infrastructureBefore CMDB, information about IT assets and infrastructure was siloed across different systems and often outdated. With CMDB, all these data are managed in a single system, acting as a centralized reference point where you can easily access it. For example, your CMDB will quickly answer questions like “What IT assets are connected to an employee who was just terminated?” or “How many installations of a certain software product exist on all computers across the organization?” With CMDB, you can easily access the change and deployment history for each CI and measure the total cost of ownership of every IT asset in your company. Transparent oversight of IT infrastructure for better asset managementAn up-to-date CMDB keeps track of all IT infrastructure components within the organization, knowing where they are deployed and who are in charge of them. Lack of this information could expose organizations to the unnecessary risk of unauthorized access to sensitive company data (for example, via improper disposal of old hardware) or non-compliance with software license agreements. CMDB makes all your IT assets visible and trackable. Authorized personnel can access the CMDB to check the status of each item throughout its entire lifecycle and understand its relationships with other items and business services. Accurate risk management for smooth change managementChanges deployments and implementations pose a significant risk for IT organizations. Unmanaged changes may negatively impact the business. CMDB helps change managers anticipate which configuration items, including employees, systems, software, and business processes, would be affected by an upcoming change, minimize the risk of business disruption, and implement the change smoothly, without service outages. Integrated data from multiple sourcesWhen information about IT assets is siloed across many different sources, such as spreadsheets, reports, or external databases, it is prone to duplicates and hard to use, especially without understanding its connections with other data about the IT infrastructure. A CMDB can aggregate data from multiple sources into one central repository, mapping each configuration item to other items and services to provide a big picture of the IT infrastructure. Source of knowledge for continuous process improvement Since a CMDB contains data on each configuration item, including their change history and relationships with other CIs, the CMDB feeds into the Knowledge Management process to provide insight into how to manage and deploy IT infrastructure components in the most efficient way. Knowledge Management reduces the need to rediscover knowledge, helping IT companies to achieve continuous, data-driven process improvement. Source of facts for effective incident managementTeams can use the CMDB to track incidents connected to the relevant configuration items whose services they affect. As soon as such an incident ticket is received, the IT operator can immediately access the corresponding CI record in the CMDB and learn everything about the item, including any previous issues of similar incidents. This information feeds directly into the knowledge base, leading to faster incident resolution and a better understanding of which CIs are more costly to support. Source of information for effective problem managementCMDB helps IT teams identify which classes of assets are problematic and substitute them in time to avoid more incidents in the future. Keeping track of how incidents and problems connect to configuration items allows for easier root-cause analysis, helping discover the source of known issues and find
solutions. Software and hardware components underpin every single product or service you offer. Managing these underlying components is a vital, value-driven activity in IT service management—but it isn’t easy. This management encompasses all of your company’s resources, from people, information, and technology to value streams, processes, and partners and suppliers. To successfully manage these components, you must know what you have. This is a challenge for most organizations. Two ITSM practices, asset management and configuration management, guide you towards successful component management. These practices may overlap, but they aren’t the same: a CMDB contains some assets, but asset management goes beyond the configuration items that comprise configuration management. In this article, we’ll define assets and configuration items (CIs), compare asset management and configuration management, and provide additional resources for you to explore. Before we jump into asset management configuration management, let’s talk about the differences between assets and configuration items—the pieces you’ll be managing. Here are two popular definitions:
A cursory look might indicate these are the same, but they are not. First, the similarities. Assets and configuration items both comprise the underlying components that deliver products and services to customers. In an ITSM environment, these components could include mobile apps, virtual servers, networking infrastructure, software licenses, and databases. The biggest difference between the two? All configuration items qualify as assets, but not all assets are CIs. This is because of how both are managed. For example, an asset could be your company’s capital, or the knowledge inside one developer’s head. These contribute to the end product but managing these assets directly in support of service delivery is neither practical nor possible. A configuration item, on the other hand, is subject to change control, which is baselined—and that’s not true for every asset. Understanding configuration managementLet’s start with configuration management, as that has a smaller scope. Configuration management is focused on managing asset information that can be managed and controlled. This info includes attributes of CIs, like owner, type, version, etc., as well as how these CIs are configured and interact with other CIs when provisioning products and services. A configuration management database (CMDB) is a key component, as it stores CI records and helps manage the CIs directly. If you must track incidents and problems related to an item or several items, particularly when planning, then you should track it as a CI. Change management applies to all configuration items. Well-executed change management contributes to:
This is no easy task. Configuration management is considered a unicorn of service management. In fact, few real-world examples achieve configuration management that aligns with best practice. Configuration management requires a fine balance between managing configuration information. Too little information is not beneficial to related processes; too much detail results in excessive overhead and inefficient or ineffectual management. Fortunately, configuration management systems (CMS) can simplify gathering information and identifying dependencies. A good CMS can also support the production of so-called service maps or models (see diagram below) that can visually demonstrate the dependencies between components in service delivery. These models can provide better visibility into design, deployment, and support of services throughout the lifecycle. Other important activities in configuration management include:
What is asset management?Asset management is both deeper and broader than configuration management. IT asset management (ITAM) is the practice of managing assets across their entire lifecycle. An asset’s value is usually determined financially. When an organization spends money to acquire components, the cost and value are crucial in predicting whether the asset will provide a return on investment. These drivers determine which items should be tracked as assets:
Lifecycle management of assets is the core of this discipline. Activities include acquisition, operation, care, and eventual disposal. As suppliers are involved, the contractual aspects involving procurement, leasing, maintenance and support are additional areas of focus. Because assets have both economic and risk impact to the organization, matters of regulatory compliance also contribute to asset management: accounting standards, security compliance, and governance. Other important activities in asset management can include:
These drivers clearly apply to most, if not all, company resources, which explains how asset management can be a challenge. Assets and CIs can overlapYour company’s items or resources can easily qualify as both a configuration item and an asset. Let’s use an example of a server that stores applications:
Instead of sweating the differences between assets and configuration items, the beneficial thing is to understand how the different management perspectives contribute towards good ITSM practices. While there is significant overlap between the management of these two, clarity can ultimately lead to full-value realization for your organization. ITAM and CMDB softwareLook no farther than BMC for related software solutions. BMC Helix Discovery helps your company discover, track, and manage your assets and configuration items. View our datasheet to see how automation delivers the data, insight, and tools to make the most of your assets. For configuration management, BMC Helix CMDB establishes a single source of truth for your CIs. To learn more, see:
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innovation, industry-leading automation, operations, and service management solutions, combined with unmatched flexibility, we help organizations free up time and space to become an Autonomous Digital Enterprise that conquers the opportunities ahead. You may also likeAbout the authorJoseph MathengeJoseph is a global best practice trainer and consultant with over 14 years corporate experience. His passion is partnering with organizations around the world through training, development, adaptation, streamlining and benchmarking their strategic and operational policies and processes in line with best practice frameworks and international standards. His specialties are IT Service Management, Business Process Reengineering, Cyber Resilience and Project Management. Which component will typically store the instances of all organizational configuration items?Explanation: Answer option C is correct. The Definitive Media Library (DML) is a secure store that contains the definitive and authorized versions of all software configuration items. It may also contain associated configuration items such as licenses and documentation.
What is there stored in CMDB?The CMDB is the ServiceNow database that stores information about all technical services. Within the CMDB, the support information for each service offering is stored in a Configuration Item (CI) specific to that service.
Which type of tool is used for configuration management?Puppet Configuration Tool
It is primarily used to configure, manage, and deploy various applications and services. Users can automate provisioning across their IT infrastructure and make rapid changes or mediate urgent issues alongside model-driven automation management.
What is a CMDB used for?The goal of a CMDB is to provide an organization with the information needed to make better business decisions and run efficient ITSM processes. By centralizing all configuration information, leaders can better understand critical CIs and their relationships.
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