Configuration Management

Configuration Management

The goal of configuration management is to maintain a comprehensive and accurate logical representation of the IT environment. This online representation, known as the configuration-management database (CMDB), contains information on each component of the IT environment (e.g., hardware, software, documentation, service, and user) that needs to be managed separately as well as the relationships between components. These components are known as configuration items (CIs). The CMDB is more than a simple repository of configuration information. According to Gartner, Inc., a CMDB is distinguished by its capabilities for reconciliation, federation, mapping and visualization, and synchronization.

Although configuration management is related to asset management, the two are not equivalent. Assets and CIs are overlapping sets, but neither is a proper subset of the other. Moreover, asset management primarily supports accounting and is generally not concerned with relationships between items as is configuration management. Organizations often start by implementing an asset management system before implementing configuration management.

Our engagement methodology includes a specific focus in the following areas:

Business Value Alignment

Failing to effectively link a CMDB initiative to value the business really cares about is one of the most common reasons why CMDB projects fail. Given this fact, and an understanding of the significant time and resource commitment that an active CMDB requires, it’s essential that your organization understands and clearly articulates the business value expected from your initiative. This should be done as a first step in your planning and should be a continuous focus throughout the project.

ESI will assist you in developing the business case and associated data points for implementing an active CMDB within your organization. We’ll start by identifying the best opportunities to deliver value to your business, help you articulate how a strong CMDB can support other organizational goals, such as cost reduction, improved security, disaster recovery support, enhanced agility, compliance, etc., and then identify that value in terms and language your management will understand.

Organizational Readiness

Understanding how prepared and willing your organization is to accept the inevitable changes a CMDB initiative will cause to the “way things work today” is a critical success factor to any CMDB initiative.

Leveraging our focused expertise implementing complex infrastructure projects in Fortune 1000 organizations, ESI consultants will help you to steer clear of common hurdles encountered when undertaking an enterprise-wide program such as a federated CMDB.

Our engagement methodology will help you understand and effectively manage your organizational limitations while garnering necessary support by:

	Developing an organizational roadmap that coincides with planned process and technology changes to ensure that a foundation for support and organizational structure is in place
	Identifying organizational boundaries and limits that exist in your organization and establishing an effective strategy to minimize their impact
	Communicating to senior management the potential significant and far-reaching effects a CMDB can have on an organization
	Ensuring that the affected parties in your organization become a part of the CMDB solution from the beginning, and are not just the recipients of an initiative they had no involvement in implementing

Policy and Process Compliance

An effective CMDB relies on strict supporting processes as well as the governance of those processes. We’ll assess and document your current policies and processes and identify any gaps that must be addressed to support your CMDB implementation. A great CMDB solution will provide little value if it is not used and supported properly by the organization. Process and policies to be addressed include:

	CI procurement processes
	Configuration management processes
	Change and release management processes
	Documentation processes
	Governance and compliance processes
	IT asset management processes
	Human resource processes
	Incident and problem management processes

As with technology and organizational changes, our CMDB roadmap will include a policy and process focus that will lay out process initiatives and improvements necessary and that coincide with technology and organizational enhancements. This helps ensure that a foundation of process and governance is in place to support the CMDB when you move to production.

Technology Enablement

The fourth focus of our roadmap is technology enablement. Understanding the technology requirements of your CMDB, evaluating your current technical capabilities, and identifying how any gaps will be addressed are all critical to your CMDB initiative. Technology enablement is also a critical aspect of ensuring ROI is maximized by reducing the amount of manual effort required to maintain a CMDB.

As an example, a federated CMDB should provide an open architecture allowing automated integration with other data sources and should also possess:

	Ability to define and classify Configuration Items (CIs) hierarchically
	Ability to define CI attributes by classification
	Ability for child CI classifications to inherit the attribute values of the parent
	Ability to define relationship types
	Ability to relate CIs to one another in definable ways (types of relationships)
	Ability to easily visualize CIs, their attributes and relationships
	Ability to easily relate CIs to incident, problem and change records
	Ability to associate CIs with respective lines of business and customers

Many inventory or asset management products in the marketplace exhibit these characteristics. Chances are you have an application or set of applications within your current environment that can address some, most, or even all of these requirements. Identifying where you stand from a technology perspective and appreciating the work that needs to be done to meet your requirements are both critical to developing an effective CMDB strategy.

Standards and Governance

Sorting out the complex and sometimes political decisions about who “owns” the CMDB within your organization is sometimes more challenging than actually implementing the solution. We’ll work with you to define a proposed standards and governance structure that meets your organization’s unique needs.

We’ll then assist you in ensuring that your proposed structure is aligned with your business and organizational priorities.

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