What is CMDB?

What is a CMDB?

Configuration management databases (CMDBs) are often referred to as “the heart of your ITSM system”. A CMDB is a repository that acts as a data warehouse – storing information about your IT environment, the components that are used to deliver IT services. The data stored in a CMDB include lists of assets (referred to as configuration items) and the relationships among them. CMDBs and the configuration management processes that surround them are the core of modern IT operations – enabling the company to manage a data about a diverse set of IT components in one place (even if the actual devices are widely distributed). The CMDB aids the organization in performing service management processes such as incident management, change management and problem management, and is also an essential resource for decision-makers needing information to improve cost, quality and the performance of IT Services offered by the organization

BETTER ASSET UTILIZATION IS POSSIBLE WITH

CONTRACT MANAGEMENT CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

Evolution of CMDBs

The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) describes a set of processes for service asset and configuration management, with the objective of maintaining information about configuration items (Cis) which are the components required to deliver an IT service. The information that is managed as a part of ITIL service asset and configuration management not only includes lists of items but also the relationships between them. ITIL depicts the underlying technical capabilities needed to support asset and configuration management as a configuration management system (CMS) as a logical data model which may span multiple physical CMDBs.

As companies embrace new processes such as Agile and DevOps, the CMDB will take on an expanded role in enabling IT employees to understand the production environment and make real-time decisions about things like problems and changes. With the proliferation of cloud infrastructure and SaaS usage, companies will need to integrate more external data sources into the CMDB to maintain the big picture perspective of a modern hybrid IT environment. Many companies are also beginning to investigate new ways of managing data assets in the context of the CMDB to support digital transformation initiatives and digital business processes.

Looking to the future, the CMDB will play an expanded role in not only IT operations but (in a digitally transformed company) business operations as well. Having the right CMDB solution to build upon will be critical, one that supports your needs today but will also evolve with you as your company grows and business environment changes

Configuration management in ITIL

CMDBs were initially created as a repository for manually collected IT asset inventory data. As ITSM processes have matured and technology such as discovery tools have enabled automation in the collection process, the role of CMDBs has expanded, becoming a core part of most company’s ITSM solution. The role of the CMDB has always aligned with the evolution of service management and other IT processes and it will continue to do so into the future.