Configuration Management

Process Control

Proper Configuration Management requires the collaboration of the whole IT structure in order to keep the information stored in the CMDB up-to-date.

It is essential to prepare reports allowing the performance of Configuration Management to be evaluated, both so as to determine the structure and suitability of the CMDB and to provide information of vital importance to other IT infrastructure areas.

In particular, the documentation generated should include:

• Scope and level of detail of the CMDB.
• Deviations between the information stored in the CMDB and that obtained from the configuration audits.
• Information on CIs that have been involved in incidents.
• Costs associated with the process.
• Classification systems and naming conventions used.
• Reports on unauthorised and/or unlicensed configurations.
• Quality of the recording and classification process.
• Statistical information and composition of the IT structure.

In small organisations it is often a good idea to combine Configuration Management and Change Management in order to simplify the process of control. The coordination between these two processes is a critical factor for success and combining them in this way can be beneficial in those cases where the volume of the infrastructure is insufficient to justify a total separation between these processes.