Cmdb A Strategic Service Asset

Executive Summary
Challenges of Today
All CIOs must balance the challenges of improving their own IT organizations quality and efficiency, while constantly responding and reacting to ever-changing demands from their business customers.
Stabilizing the high standards of service quality becomes even more difficult as the current economic climate pressures CIOs to better manage and reduce IT costs. How do CIOs therefore balance these requirements and optimize the delivery of high quality business-focused services? Further complicating the challenge, organizations are often not fully aware of what they own and deliver and which parts are most important.
IT organizations are traditionally good at defining what they do in IT terms, but CIOs have to bridge the gap to ensure that what is being delivered is focused on business rather than IT priorities.

So, how can the CIO do this?
Solution
IT Service Management (http://www.axiossystems.com/en/solutions/itsm/assyst-itsm.php) answers this question for the CIOit is a big question that requires effort, time and resources to resolve. Many organizations have started down this path in the last ten yearsmost with some initial success and excitement, but this tends to dissolve into frustration as real benefits and changes are slow to realize.
The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) (http://www.axiossystems.com/en/solutions/cmdb.php) has always been the dark horse in ITIL silent and mysterious, often ignored. Although seen by some as the Holy Grail to solving problems, the CMDB has certainly not always been well described, and is often misunderstood, ignored or poorly implemented.
This paper highlights the strategic importance of the CMDB both to the IT organization and the business that it supports. A CMDB can unlock the power of ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) and facilitates real improvements in value, control, accountability, and exposure to risk. It will help the IT organization to do the right things, demonstrate that it is doing them, and give the business the confidence that these things are being done.

It ultimately moves the focus of IT to business services rather than just IT. As the CMDB is not just a database of IT components, it offers a repository of information about services, component parts and their dependencies.
A CMDB may be misunderstood and quite difficult to implement, but it is ultimately essential to extracting value from IT and return on investment from ITIL.

Introduction
What is a CMDB?
The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) has now nearly gained brand status; the CMDB acronym is practically used interchangeably with Configuration Management (CM), (or Service Asset and Configuration Management (SACM)) as defined in ITIL V3.
This branding is a mistake, as CM is a process which involves a number of key elements in the ITIL and IT Service Management puzzle; it is much more than simply a database.
Certainly, there is a tangible database element required as part of CM. In the early days of ITIL, there was little real CM practiced. Many organizations developed asset inventories and software libraries to provide information repositories for their IT systems. CM was seen as the next stage of ITSM maturity, although for many people and organizations this was misunderstood, or seen as too difficult to implement. Frankly, the ITIL books and output have poorly explained both the real benefits and the best way to implement and make CM work; CM has often been seen as an unnecessary and unattainable burden.
In the last few years, there has been more focus, understanding and expertise emerging in this area, and the levels of maturity and successful uptake have continued to grow. CM is now appreciated more as a fundamental part of ITSM and one which must be delivered if the full benefits are to be realized.
In short, the CMDB is the information engine room that enables IT to deliver ITIL processes and business value. Yes, it is a repository of information about key IT assets, systems, programs, etc. However it also holds information on relationships and dependencies across these IT systems that enable the IT provider to manage and demonstrate value in the delivery of business services. Without the CMDB, the IT organization is basically ignorant of what it is doing, what it is managing and is fundamentally unable to show that it is delivering what customers need.
The CMDB is the backbone of the business and acts as a catalyst that empowers the IT department to deliver quality and value through ITIL processes. CM as a whole, however, is a process and approach - much more than just a list or database.

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