White Paper

CMDB - A Strategic Service Asset



Configuration Management Database or ‘CMDB’ is seen

as a brand, representing the wider goal of Configuration
Management. While this usually involves a
system and database, there is much more to it than that…

This paper highlights the strategic value of Configuration

Management, as a value-enabler for both IT and the business
it supports.

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary 3
Challenges of Today 3
Solution 3

Introduction 5
What is a CMDB? 5
Why do I need a CMDB? 6
What is the purpose of the CMDB? 6

Overview of Functional Capabilities 10

Risk Control 10
Change Agility 10
Governance Automation 10

Summary 13
Strategic Service Asset 13

Copyright Notice
© Copyright Axios Systems 2009. The information, which is contained in this document, is the property of Axios Systems. The
contents of the document must not be reproduced or disclosed wholly or in part or used for purposes other than that for which it is
supplied without the prior written permission of Axios Systems.

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Executive Summary
Challenges of Today
All CIOs must balance the challenges of improving their own IT organizations’
quality and efficiency, while constantly responding and reacting to ever-changing
demands from their business customers.

Stabilizing the high standards of service quality becomes even more difficult
as the current economic climate pressures CIOs to better manage and reduce
IT costs. How do CIOs therefore balance these requirements and optimize the
delivery of high quality business-focused services? Further complicating the
challenge, organizations are often not fully aware of what they own and deliver
and which parts are most important.

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

CIOs have to bridge the gap to ensure that what is being delivered is focused on
business rather than IT priorities.

So, how can the CIO do this?

Solution
IT Service Management answers this question for the CIO—it is a big question
that requires effort, time and resources to resolve. Many organizations have
started down this path in the last ten years—most with some initial success and
excitement, but this tends to dissolve into frustration as real benefits and changes
are slow to realize.

The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) has always been the ‘dark
horse’ in ITIL—silent and mysterious, often ignored. Although seen by some as the
‘Holy Grail’ to solving problems, the CMDB has certainly not always been well
described, and is often misunderstood, ignored or poorly implemented.

This paper highlights the strategic importance of the CMDB—both to the

IT organization and the business that it supports. A CMDB can unlock the
power of ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) and facilitates 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 confidence that these things are being done.

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It ultimately moves the focus of IT to business services rather than just IT. As
the CMDB is not just a database of IT components, it offers a repository of
information about services, component parts and their dependencies.

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

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

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Introduction
What is a CMDB?
The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) has now nearly gained
brand status; the ‘CMDB’ acronym is practically used interchangeably with
Configuration Management (CM), (or Service Asset and Configuration
Management (SACM), as defined in ITIL V3).

This branding is a mistake, as CM is a process which involves a number of 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 of CM. In

the early days of ITIL, there was little real CM practiced. Many organizations
developed asset inventories and software libraries to provide information
repositories for their IT systems. CM was seen as the next stage of ITSM maturity,
although for many people and organizations this was misunderstood, or seen
as too difficult to implement. Frankly, the ITIL books and output have poorly
explained both the real benefits and the best way to implement and make CM
work; CM has often been seen as an unnecessary and unattainable burden.

In the last few years, there has been more focus, understanding and expertise
emerging in this area, and the levels of maturity and successful uptake have
continued to grow. CM is now appreciated more as a fundamental part of ITSM
and one which must be delivered if the full benefits are to be realized.

In short, the CMDB is the ‘information engine room’ that enables IT to deliver ITIL
processes and business value. Yes, it is a repository of information about key IT
assets, systems, programs, etc. However it also holds information on relationships
and dependencies across these IT systems that enable the IT provider to manage
and demonstrate value in the delivery of business services. Without the CMDB,
the IT organization is basically ignorant of what it is doing, what it is managing
and is fundamentally unable to show that it is delivering what customers need.

The CMDB is the backbone of 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 benefits and return on investment from ITIL, and
(2) to support the delivery and demonstration of value from IT.

On its own, the CMDB is not particularly exciting and does not have any obvious
intrinsic benefits. Without CM, the CMDB is unable to make the rest of 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 faster diagnosis of issues. CM also supports Problem
Management to diagnose root causes and saves time and money lost due
to outages. In addition, it will prevent costly downtime by assisting Change
Management in assessing risk and impact across complex infrastructures.

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, therefore, is the key that unlocks value from ITSM. While Incident, Problem
and Change Management allow value-based management, good SLM delivers
value-based reporting and monitoring.

All of these processes are dependent on CM and therefore the CMDB is a

strategic asset in the delivery of value from IT.

Good implementation of a CMDB delivers Service Value Management.

Summary
Strategic Service Asset
Ultimately, the CMDB provides value to the IT organization through smooth
facilitation of ITIL and ITSM processes. It also helps the IT organization to manage
its resources effectively with reduced risk and increased accountability.

From the business perspective, the CMDB will help the IT organization work more
effectively 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 of not providing the services required
by the business.

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About Axios Systems

Axios Systems is one of the world’s leading providers of IT Service Management
(ITSM) solutions. Its customer-centric approach, combined with its award-winning
software, 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.

Benefiting from more than 20 years of 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 of ITSM and Service
Desks. assyst offers a unique lifecycle approach to ITSM with the integration
of all ITIL processes (including Incident Management, Capacity Management,
Problem Management, Change Management, Asset Management, Configuration
Management and Service Level Management), twelve of which have been
verified by Pink Elephant’s PinkVERIFY service as compatible with industry best
practices (based on ITIL V3), in a single, out-of-the-box application. It empowers
management with a dashboard-based transparent view of real-time performance
against SLAs, and Operations Level Agreements (OLAs) using Web 2.0
technologies.

Implementing assyst into an organization optimizes IT infrastructure efficiency,

reduces overheads and lowers the total cost of IT ownership (TCO), helping to
ensure a significant return on investment (ROI) with rapid time-to-value. Axios
also offers a comprehensive set of consulting and training services to support
ITSM best practices in an organization.

Axios is headquartered in the UK, with offices across Europe, the Americas,
Middle East and Asia Pacific. Axios’ global presence is further strengthened with
a worldwide network of partners.

For more information, visit www.axiossystems.com.

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