Implement Configuration Management Databases
that Deliver Rapid ROI and Sustained Business
Value Implementing an enterprise-wide
Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is one of the
most influential actions an IT organization can take to
improve service delivery and bridge the gap between
technology and the business. With a well-designed CMDB
in place, companies are better positioned to manage and
optimize IT infrastructure, applications, and services;
automate more IT management tasks; and restrain
burgeoning costs. Now, there’s an objective,
vendor-independent guide to making a CMDB work in your
organization.
The CMDB Imperative presents a
start-to-finish implementation methodology that works
and describes how the CMDB is shifting to the superior
Configuration Management System
(CMS).
Expert CMDB industry analyst Glenn
O’Donnell and leading-edge architect and practitioner
Carlos Casanova first review the drivers behind a CMDB
and the technical, economic, cultural, and political
obstacles to success. Drawing on the experiences of
hundreds of organizations, they present indispensable
guidance on architecting and customizing CMDB solutions
to your specific environment. They’ll guide you through
planning, implementation, transitioning into production,
day-to-day operation and maintenance, and much more.
Coverage includes
- Defining the tasks and activities associated with
configuration management
- Understanding the CMDB’s role in ITIL and the
relationship between CMDBs and ITIL v3’s CMS
- Building software models that accurately represent
each entity in your IT environment
- Ensuring information accuracy via change
management and automated discovery
- Understanding the state of the CMDB market and
selling the CMDB within your organization
- Creating federated CMDB architectures that
successfully balance autonomy with centralized control
- Planning a deployment strategy that sets
appropriate priorities and reflects a realistic view
of your organization’s maturity
- Integrating systems and leveraging established and
emerging standards
- Previewing the future of the CMDB/CMS and how it
will be impacted by key trends such as virtualization,
SOA, mobility, convergence, and
“flexi-sourcing”
Foreword
xi
Prologue
xiii
Chapter 1: The Need for Process
Discipline 1
Chapter 2: What
Is a CMDB? 25
Chapter 3:
Planning for the CMS
57
Chapter 4: The Federated CMS
Architecture 91
Chapter 5:
CMS Deployment Strategy
133
Chapter 6: Integration—There’s No Way Around
It! 177
Chapter 7: The Future
of the CMS 197
Chapter 8:
Continual Improvement for the
CMS 241
Chapter 9: Leveraging
the CMS 265
Chapter 10: Enjoy
the Fruits of Success
297
Glossary
313
