The objective of Configuration Management is to provide a logical model of the IT infrastructure. It identifies, controls, maintains and verifies the versions of all Configuration Items (CIs) that form an organization’s IT infrastructure.
The fully embedded Configuration Management Database (CMDB) provides access to up-to-the-minute information regarding the state of any infrastructure item. It includes:
Fully customizable Configuration Item Templates
Configuration Item Lifecycles
Problem Classifications
The power of the CMDB is obtained by the quality and details of the CI relationships stored within it, which can be used by the Service Catalog. The Service Catalog maps the relationships between individual CIs and allows the Service Desk to assess the real impact of a loss of a service as opposed to an individual asset being off-line.
Once the CMDB has been successfully implemented, Configuration Management will help the Service Desk by:
Reducing the time required to log a request
Improving the accuracy of fault diagnosis and request allocation to Support Teams, thereby minimizing the overall resolution time
Preventing outages caused by poorly planned changes by revealing the full impact and risk of any change to a CI inside the control of the CMDB
Aiding recovery after a disaster by providing a rollback facility
Listing the authorized software for given desktop
Recording and reporting on previous, current and planned states of the CI
The benefits of the CMDB are immense, especially when combined with other ITIL Service Management disciplines of Request Fulfilment, Incident, Problem, Change and Service Management.