Configuration Management
Ensure that all service component Configuration Items (CIs) are identified and that any changes to them are authorized, recorded, and managed.
Improvement Planning
Practices-Outcomes-Metrics (POM)
Representative POMs are described for Configuration Management at each level of maturity.
- 2Basic
- Practice
- Decide the level and scope of service component Configuration Items (CIs), and develop a basic listing of CIs.
- Outcomes
- Deciding the level and scope of CIs is a critical decision for a business.
- For example, do you consider a laptop as a CI or do you break it down into its component parts — CPU, memory, HDD etc.
- The listing of CIs provides increased control and reliability through the detection and correction of improper configurations.
- Metrics
- Availability of a CI listing.
- # of CIs listed.
- 3Intermediate
- Practices
- Create a comprehensive documented definition of each CI.
- Record a description of the CI, its status, version and location, together with any change requests or associated problems in a Configuration Management Database (CMDB).
- Outcomes
- A CMDB is available and provides a comprehensive documented definition of each type of CI.
- It is seen as a ‘single source of truth’.
- This provides the ability to be proactive, and to provide preventative maintenance.
- Metric
- % of CI records available in the CMDB.
- 4Advanced
- Practice
- Record the relationship(s) between CIs, and between CIs and service components in a CMDB.
- Outcome
- The CMDB makes it possible to accurately analyse the impact of any proposed changes.
- Metric
- % of CI records available in the CMDB.% of CI records with interrelationships documented and available in the CMBD.
- 5Optimized
- Practice
- Connect the CMDB to other service management and business processes (e.g. financial asset management) and integrate it with the service catalogue.
- Outcome
- The connection of the CMDB and other service management and business processes facilitates the enhanced reconciliation and management of complex IT systems and infrastructures.
- Metric
- % of related systems connected to the CMDB.