The CMDB - Open Group

The CMDB

Understanding the difference between Configuration Management, Asset Management, Inventory Management, Service Management and the CMDB

Intro: ITIL > TOGAF

Intro: ITIL

Intro: ITIL > TOGAF

Principlesn From a 1987 issue of Proceedings, a publication of the U.S. Naval

Instituten Transcript of a US naval ship off the coast of Newfoundland

¨ Americans: "Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North toavoid a collision."

¨ Canadians: "Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision."

¨ Americans: "This is the captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course."

¨ Canadians: "No, I say again, you divert YOUR course."¨ Americans: "THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER USS ABRAHAM

LINCOLN, THE SECOND LARGEST SHIP IN THE UNITED STATES' ATLANTIC FLEET. WE ARE ACCOMPANIED BY THREE DESTROYERS, THREE CRUISERS AND NUMEROUS SUPPORT VESSELS. I DEMAND THAT YOU CHANGE YOUR COURSE 15 DEGREES NORTH. THAT'S ONE-FIVE DEGREES NORTH, OR COUNTER MEASURES WILL BE UNDERTAKEN TO ENSURE THE SAFETY OF THIS SHIP."

¨ Canadians: "This is the lighthouse. Your call."

Principlesn Principles are like “lighthouses”n They are natural laws that cannot be broken!

Principlesn ITIL (http://www.itil-officialsite.com/home/home.asp)

¨ In the 1980’s the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) in the UK developed the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) in order to better manage the Lifecycle of IT Services they were providing

¨ Little did they know that what they developed would grow into the globally recognised de facto standard for managing IT services

¨ now ITIL V3¨ ITSM

n Incident, Problem, Change Managementn Service Requestn CIn CMDBn Service Asset and Configuration Management (in V3)n and CMS (in V3)

What is a CI

n To provide accurate and reliable CI datan Manage the flow of data in the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL)

processes in the context of the ‘Request, Incident and Change Management’ processes of a CI

n The CI moves through its Service Lifecycle

What is a CIn A CI is a logical component representing a “Service Capability”:

¨ needs to be managed in order to deliver an IT Service¨ maintained throughout its Service Lifecycle by Configuration

Management¨ under the control of Change Management¨ typically includes a resource and/or a capability

n Records of CIs are typically stored in in a CMDBn Users are entitled to CIs :

¨ typically at a user, group of users, departmental, group of departments level

¨ typically the person who requires the Service Capability¨ typically allocated from a Service Catalogue and/or a Service

Requestn A component should be considered a CI if you want to be able to:

¨ Open an Incident against it ¨ Request a Change for it ¨ Manage it as part of a Release ¨ See its Business Service impact

n ITAM (http://www.iaitam.org/)¨ International Association of Information Technology Asset

Managers, Inc. (“IAITAM”)¨ A professional association for individuals and organizations

involved in any aspect of IT Asset Management (“ITAM”), Software Asset Management (“SAM”), Hardware Asset Management, and the Lifecycle processes for IT Asset Management

¨ IAITAM officially incorporated in 2002 but ITAM was around before ITIL

¨ Plan, Request, Procure, Receive, Manage, Dispose processesn Asset

Principles

What is an Asset

n To provide accurate and reliable IT Asset datan Manage the flow of data in the IT Asset Management (ITAM)

processes in the context of ‘Plan, Request, Procure, Receive, Manage and Dispose’ phases of an Asset

n The Asset moves through its Asset Lifecycle

What is an Assetn An Asset is a physical component managed throughout its asset

lifecycle for its value/cost, contractual compliance and usagen Records of Assets are typically stored in an Asset Repositoryn An Asset has an Asset Owner:

¨ typically at a departmental or organisational level¨ typically the requestor of the Asset

n A component should be considered an Asset if you want to be able to:¨ Manage its procurement, receiving, maintenance or disposal ¨ Manage associated software license, warranty, lease or

maintenance contract ¨ Track its monetary value or incurred costs ¨ Know who is using it and/or how often it is being used ¨ Know who’s budget it is allocated to¨ Depreciate it for tax purposes

ITAM = Assets

ITSM = CIs

The Problem!n The variability in the ownership of ITAM activities adds complexity to

the coordination of teams and processes between ITAM and ITSM

n Organisations normally approach ITAM as an inventory function, growing the practices into the financial, contractual and software management aspects over time

n ITAM programs are often [start] part of Procurement¨ OK approach but siloed¨ Procurement use their own Procurement repository

n ITAM programs are often [become] a special unit within IT for IT Procurement¨ OK approach, less siloed¨ IT Procurement use their own asset repository for IT assets but

where are the fixed assets?

n ITAM programs are often [mostly] the IT department…

Principlesn While ITAM revolves around the concept of lifecycle management

of an asset, ITSM is focused on the lifecycle management of a service

n ITSM best practices outline the processes that should be implemented to support a service’s lifecycle through Change and Configuration Management

ITAM & ITSM Synergies

n The integration requirement between ITAM and ITSM is that many of the attributes and information that ITAM manages is the same information that ITSM requires for service creation, execution and measurement

The Confusionn Some standard changes to configuration items may be tracked on

the asset or configuration item lifecycle, particularly where there is a comprehensive CMS that …

n The CMS may also identify related CI/assets that will…

n All updates to changes and releases are recorded against serviceassets and/or configuration items in the Configuration Management System…

Asset or CI?

Asset or CI?

n Is Asset =ü¨ Manage its procurement, receiving, maintenance or disposal ¨ Manage associated software license, warranty, lease or maintenance

contract ¨ Track its monetary value or incurred costs ¨ Know who is using it and/or how often it is being used ¨ Know who’s budget it is allocated to¨ Depreciate it for tax purposes

n Is CI = ün Open an Incident against it n Request a Change for it n Manage it as part of a Release n See its Business Service impact

Asset or CI?

n Is Asset =ü¨ Manage:

n asset attributesn costsn depreciationn ownershipn status (on order, disposed…)

n Is CI = ü¨ Manage:

n CI attributesn relationships to CIsn relationships to usersn “golden state”n service status (in service, in

repair, withdrawn…)

Asset or CI?

n Is Asset =ü¨ Manage:

n asset attributesn costsn depreciationn ownershipn status (on order, disposed…)

n Is CI = û

What is not an Asset? What is not a CI?n CIs not likely to be managed as Assets :

¨ a Custom Java applet¨ a Business process document¨ a Business Service model

n Assets not likely to be managed as CIs:¨ Consumable or bulk items (toner cartridges, mice). Items we

do not want to depreciate.¨ Fixed Assets (buildings, lifts…)¨ Assets on order (not yet received)

The Problem!n …ITAM programs are often [mostly] the IT department

¨ forget / ignore fixed assets¨ forget / ignore depreciation, disposal¨ adopting ITSM Incident, Problem and Change management ¨ adopting ITSM CMDB as the last great hope populating everything

into the CMDB

n In ITSM, Change Management is the mechanism to review and control risks, as they pertain to supporting the configuration of services, and Configuration Management centres around managing CI’s involved with or in support of a service’s lifecycle

n Within this context, assets are then identified as CIs and are stored in a Configuration Management Data Base (CMDB)

n Installation of the CMDB technology then allows an IT organisation to manage the integrity of services (and service lifecycles) through Configuration Management by defining the CI’s that are involved with or in support of a service and the relationships and interrelationships between the various CI’s and services

n This is the domain of the Configuration Manager and the strategic nature of the Configuration Manager’s role and function!

Principles

n ITAM and ITSM integrate with one another at the Service Desk ¨ Providing make, model and CI attribute information to support personnel¨ Providing Request Management for the organisation

n Outside of this, ITAM and ITSM exist in their own separate worlds with ITAM managing IT assets’ quantities, financials, and associated contracts and ITSM defining services and managing/supporting them throughout their lifecycle

n But, with the demands on IT to become more cost transparent, reduce costs, and adhere to regulatory and compliance mandates, and improve the services being offered, ITAM and the IT Asset Manager must now play a much larger role in the lifecycle management of a service

n Therefore these frameworks cannot function in isolation¨ ITSM must have a good understanding of the cost of services as well as

understanding how those services enable and facilitate the business¨ ITAM must provide financial data with a services context¨ The context is typically defined in business service terms in the Service Catalog



n The integration between ITAM and ITSM occurs within the Change Management process

Change Management (Standard)

n End-users request CIs and not Assets!¨ Request a CI to fulfill a specific “Service Capability”¨ An Asset is then procured (or moved) to fulfill the “Service

Capability” requirementn Through the lifecycle of the CI

¨ Not uncommon that several different assets will fulfill the CI’s “Service Capability” requirement

¨ Hardware refresh every 3 years?¨ The CI does not change because the “Service Capability” does not

change n When a CI has failed, a new asset, loaner asset or temporary asset is

deployed to restore the CI’s “Service Capability”¨ Again all that changes is the underlying asset to fulfill the CIs

“Service Capability”n When the Asset changes the companies financial or accounting

status changesn When the Asset changes the IT Service d o e s n o t c h a n g e!

Asset or CI?

Change Managementn The purpose of the Change Management process is to ensure that:

¨ Standardized methods and procedures are used for efficient and prompt handling of all changes

¨ All changes to service assets and configuration items are recorded in the Configuration Management System

¨ Overall business risk is optimised

n The goals of Change Management are to:¨ Respond to the customer’s changing business requirements while

maximizing value and reducing incidents, disruption and re-work¨ Respond to the business and IT requests for change that will align the

services with the business needs

n The objective of the Change Management process is to ensure that changes are recorded and then evaluated, authorized, prioritized, planned, tested, implemented, documented and reviewed in a controlled manner

n It is important to understand that:¨ Assets (Asset Management) should be managed as CIs

(Configuration Management) only if they are under Change Management control and present a risk to the business from a services perspective

¨ CIs should be identified through a focus on those services and the supporting infrastructure that are critical to the business service and that requires the control of Change and Configuration Management

¨ Not all assets are CIs and not all CIs are assets ¨ However, should a specific asset be identified as a CI, the

proper sequence for establishing the CI should be to associate the asset record to a CI record in the CMDB through Change Management


Principles

n It is important to understand that: ¨ Discovery tools (inventory management) should not create CI

records unless part of a specific strategy¨ Discovery tools are generally used to keep the CMDB up to

date, but all applications possessing that authority need to be specifically identified and controlled

¨ Synchronisation and reconciliation of CI information from Discovery information (or inventory information) should focus on the attributes and relationships that inform the Change Management process in terms of the inventory management impact on a service’s lifecycle


Principles

n ITAM and ITSM are commonly integrated between the AMDB and the CMDBn While the AMDB provides counts, quantities, costs, contractual information

and the like, the CMDB provides relationship informationn The relationship information contained within the CMDB identifies how

Business Services, Business Processes, IT Services, IT Components (i.e. Applications and IT Assets) all relate to one another

n By associating the AMDB financial and asset configuration information with the CMDB relationship information, a complete picture of how IT and its assets relate to the business can be made

n This information can be invaluable in all kinds of strategy/planning, operational support, service and application/system monitoring, and budgeting activities

n While the cooperation and integration between the AMDB and CMDB is essential, one does not, and should not, replace the other

n The AMDB has a corporate focus, uniting financial and contractual information with the physical so that risk of audits is reduced, costs are managed and other corporate needs for information are met

n In contrast, the CMDB is relationship focused so that operational aspects of services are managed and services are seen as business process enablers

n Both perspectives and their associated functions are important to the success of the organization

A few words…

The Configuration Managern Strategic role and function, determining:

¨ “What is a CI” AND “What is an Asset”¨ What is the asset, asset inventory and the CI attributes in a

federated data model (data source ownership)¨ Who owns what data in the federated data model¨ What are the processes of the data owners to manage the

validity/quality/accuracy of the data at the data source¨ What is the interaction between those processes and the Request,

Incident, Problem and especially Change Management processes (People, Process, Technology, Partners)

¨ How the federated data model and supporting People, Process, Technology, Partners maps into the CMS (with the CMDB at the heart of the CMS)

¨ What is the audit or exception management strategy for the CMS n These are critical steps in effectively forging the relationships between

inventory, assets, CI’s and services or understanding the difference between “Configuration Management”, “Asset Management” and “Inventory Management” strategy

n Not understanding this will result in a CMDB becoming a “nice collection of the chaos in the IT environment!”

Principlesn Try at all times to ensure:

¨ Do not confuse Configuration Management, Asset Managementand Inventory Management strategy

¨ Do not use the words Configuration Management, CI and CMDB too generically

¨ Determine and address the actual Asset Management and Inventory Management challenges within an organisation often greater than IT

¨ Often there is the great hope that Configuration Management will sort out Asset Management and Inventory Management challenges

¨ More-often than not it is gaining control of Asset Management and Inventory Management disciplines (and strategy) that creates thestable platform for embarking on any CMDB or Configuration Management initiative

Thank You

n Additional topics:¨Modeling a CMDB¨7 Fundamental use cases of the CMDB¨Build your CMDB in 5 days¨Effective Change Management for the CMDB¨Understanding CMDB Federation

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The CMDB - Open Group