CMDB - A Strategic Service Asset

8/8/2019 CMDB - A Strategic Service Asset

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www.axiossystems.com

White Paper

CMDB - A Strategic Service Asset

Confguration Management Database or CMDB is seenas a brand, representing the wider goal o ConfgurationManagement. While this usually involves a

system and database, there is much more to it than that

This paper highlights the strategic value o ConfgurationManagement, as a value-enabler or both IT and the businessit supports.


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CMDB: A Strategic Service Asset p2

Executive SummaryChallenges o TodaySolution

333

IntroductionWhat is a CMDB?Why do I need a CMDB?

What is the purpose o the CMDB?

556

6

Overview o Functional CapabilitiesRisk ControlChange AgilityGovernance Automation

10101010

SummaryStrategic Service Asset

1313

Copyright Notice Copyright Axios Systems 2009. The inormation, which is contained in this document, is the property o Axios Systems. Thecontents o the document must not be reproduced or disclosed wholly or in part or used or purposes other than that or which it issupplied without the prior written permission o Axios Systems.

Table of Contents


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Executive Summary

Challenges o TodayAll CIOs must balance the challenges o improving their own IT organizations

quality and efciency, while constantly responding and reacting to ever-changing

demands rom their business customers.

Stabilizing the high standards o service quality becomes even more difcult

as the current economic climate pressures CIOs to better manage and reduce

IT costs. How do CIOs thereore balance these requirements and optimize the

delivery o high quality business-ocused services? Further complicating the

challenge, organizations are oten not ully aware o what they own and deliver

and which parts are most important.

IT organizations are traditionally good at defning what they do in IT terms, but

CIOs have to bridge the gap to ensure that what is being delivered is ocused on

business rather than IT priorities.

So, how can the CIO do this?

SolutionIT Service Management answers this question or the CIOit is a big question

that requires eort, time and resources to resolve. Many organizations havestarted down this path in the last ten yearsmost with some initial success and

excitement, but this tends to dissolve into rustration as real benefts and changes

are slow to realize.

The Confguration Management Database (CMDB) has always been the dark

horse in ITILsilent and mysterious, oten ignored. Although seen by some as the

Holy Grail to solving problems, the CMDB has certainly not always been well

described, and is oten misunderstood, ignored or poorly implemented.

This paper highlights the strategic importance o the CMDBboth to the

IT organization and the business that it supports. A CMDB can unlock the

power o ITIL (Inormation Technology Inrastructure Library) and acilitates real

improvements in value, control, accountability, and exposure to risk. It will help

the IT organization to do the right things, demonstrate that it is doing them, and

give the business the confdence that these things are being done.


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It ultimately moves the ocus o IT to business services rather than just IT. As

the CMDB is not just a database o IT components, it oers a repository o

inormation about services, component parts and their dependencies.

A CMDB may be misunderstood and quite difcult to implement, but it is

ultimately essential to extracting value rom IT and return on investment rom ITIL.


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Introduction

What is a CMDB?The Confguration Management Database (CMDB) has now nearly gained

brand status; the CMDB acronym is practically used interchangeably with

Confguration Management (CM), (or Service Asset and Confguration

Management (SACM), as defned in ITIL V3).

This branding is a mistake, as CM is a process which involves a number o key

elements in the ITIL and IT Service Management (ITSM) puzzle; it is much more

than simply a database.

Certainly, there is a tangible database element required as part o CM. In

the early days o ITIL, there was little real CM practiced. Many organizationsdeveloped asset inventories and sotware libraries to provide inormation

repositories or their IT systems. CM was seen as the next stage o ITSM maturity,

although or many people and organizations this was misunderstood, or seen

as too difcult to implement. Frankly, the ITIL books and output have poorly

explained both the real benefts and the best way to implement and make CM

work; CM has oten been seen as an unnecessary and unattainable burden.

In the last ew years, there has been more ocus, understanding and expertise

emerging in this area, and the levels o maturity and successul uptake havecontinued to grow. CM is now appreciated more as a undamental part o ITSM

and one which must be delivered i the ull benefts are to be realized.

In short, the CMDB is the inormation engine room that enables IT to deliver ITIL

processes and business value. Yes, it is a repository o inormation about key IT

assets, systems, programs, etc. However it also holds inormation on relationships

and dependencies across these IT systems that enable the IT provider to manage

and demonstrate value in the delivery o business services. Without the CMDB,

the IT organization is basically ignorant o what it is doing, what it is managingand is undamentally unable to show that it is delivering what customers need.

The CMDB is the backbone o the business and acts as a catalyst that empowers

the IT department to deliver quality and value through ITIL processes. CM as

a whole, however, is a process and approach - much more than just a list or

database.


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Why do I need a CMDB?There are two main reasons why an organization needs a CMDB:

(1) to maximize the benefts and return on investment rom ITIL, and

(2) to support the delivery and demonstration o value rom IT.

On its own, the CMDB is not particularly exciting and does not have any obvious

intrinsic benefts. Without CM, the CMDB is unable to make the rest o ITIL truly

work.

CM can instantly save money on license management when combined with

discovery and Asset Management. It speeds up Incident Management and

service delivery and aids aster diagnosis o issues. CM also supports Problem

Management to diagnose root causes and saves time and money lost dueto outages. In addition, it will prevent costly downtime by assisting Change

Management in assessing risk and impact across complex inrastructures.

Also, and most importantly, when combined with Service Level Management

(SLM) and a Service Catalog, CM empowers the IT organization to manage and

demonstrate value-based IT Services.

CM, thereore, is the key that unlocks value rom ITSM. While Incident, Problem

and Change Management allow value-based management, good SLM deliversvalue-based reporting and monitoring.

All o these processes are dependent on CM and thereore the CMDB is a

strategic asset in the delivery o value rom IT.

Good implementation o a CMDB delivers Service Value Management.

Summary

Strategic Service AssetUltimately, the CMDB provides value to the IT organization through smooth

acilitation o ITIL and ITSM processes. It also helps the IT organization to manage

its resources eectively with reduced risk and increased accountability.

From the business perspective, the CMDB will help the IT organization work more

eectively with the business and be able to deliver and demonstrate that it is

meeting the business needs. Without the CMDB, the IT organization has limited

management control and runs a high risk o not providing the services required

by the business.


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About Axios SystemsAxios Systems is one o the worlds leading providers o IT Service Management

(ITSM) solutions. Its customer-centric approach, combined with its award-winning

sotware, enables customers to improve their Service Delivery and Support and

deliver Continual Service Improvement by helping to align and realign IT services

to changing business needs, supporting business processes and improving

productivity.

Benefting rom more than 20 years o development and investment around

Best Practice principles, Axios Systems core solution, assyst, built around a

market-leading CMDB, intuitively steers users through the ITIL processes which

help organizations transition toward the next generation o ITSM and Service

Desks. assyst oers a unique liecycle approach to ITSM with the integration

o all ITIL processes (including Incident Management, Capacity Management,Problem Management, Change Management, Asset Management, Confguration

Management and Service Level Management), twelve o which have been

verifed by Pink Elephants PinkVERIFY service as compatible with industry best

practices (based on ITIL V3), in a single, out-o-the-box application. It empowers

management with a dashboard-based transparent view o real-time perormance

against SLAs, and Operations Level Agreements (OLAs) using Web 2.0

technologies.

Implementing assyst into an organization optimizes IT inrastructure efciency,reduces overheads and lowers the total cost o IT ownership (TCO), helping to

ensure a signifcant return on investment (ROI) with rapid time-to-value. Axios

also oers a comprehensive set o consulting and training services to support

ITSM best practices in an organization.

Axios is headquartered in the UK, with ofces across Europe, the Americas,

Middle East and Asia Pacifc. Axios global presence is urther strengthened with

a worldwide network o partners.

For more inormation, visit www.axiossystems.com.

CMDB - A Strategic Service Asset

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