Configuration Management (CM) is an Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL

Itil

Itil may mean:*Atil or Itil, the ancient capital of Khazaria*Itil , also Idel, Atil, Atal, the ancient and modern Turkic name of the river Volga.ITIL can stand for:*Information Technology Infrastructure Library...

) version 2 and an IT Service Management (ITSM) process that tracks all of the individual Configuration Items (CI) in an IT system

Information system

An information system - or application landscape - is any combination of information technology and people's activities that support operations, management, and decision making. In a very broad sense, the term information system is frequently used to refer to the interaction between people,...

 which may be as simple as a single server

Server (computing)

In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...

, or as complex as the entire IT department. In large organizations a configuration manager may be appointed to oversee and manage the CM process. In ITIL version 3, this process has been renamed as Service Asset and Configuration Management.

Configuration Item

A Configuration item

Configuration item

The term configuration item or CI refers to the fundamental structural unit of a configuration management system. Examples of CIs include individual requirements documents, software, models, plans, and people...

 (CI) is an IT asset or a combination of IT assets that may depend and have relationships with other IT processes. A CI will have attributes which may be hierarchical and relationships that will be assigned by the configuration manager in the CM database.

CI attributes

1. Technical - Data that describes the CI's capabilities which include software version and model numbers, hardware and manufacturer specifications and other technical details like networking speeds and data storage size. Keyboards, mice and cables are considered consumables.
2. Ownership - Part of financial asset management, ownership attributes record purchase date, warranty, location and responsible person for the CI. Identification numbers like bar codes and type, like software, hardware and documentation are also ownership attributes.
3. Relationship - The relationships between hardware items (e.g. a printer), software (e.g. drivers), and users (i.e. Alice).

Configuration Management Database

The fundamental component of CM is the CM database (CMDB

CMDB

A configuration management database is a repository of information related to all the components of an information system. It contains the details of the configuration items in the IT infrastructure. Although repositories similar to CMDBs have been used by IT departments for many years, the term...

) which contains the CI information and is used to understand the CI relationships and track their configuration and more

Activities

The information in the CMDB is used for five basic activities:

1. Planning: The CM plan covers the next three to six months in detail, and the following twelve months in outline. It is reviewed at least twice a year and will include a strategy, policy, scope, objectives, roles and responsibilities, the CM processes, activities and procedures, the CMDB, relationships with other processes and third parties, as well as tools and number of CI categories to track in the CMDB determines the scope. The detail of the CI information is the depth.
2. Identification: The selection, identification and labeling of all CIs which creates a parts list of every CI in the system. This covers the recording of information about CI's, including hardware and software versions, documentation, ownership and other unique identifiers. CIs should be recorded at a level of detail justified by the business need, typically to the level of "independent change". This includes defining the relationships of the CIs in the system.
3. Control: This gives the assurance that only authorized and identifiable CIs are accepted and recorded from receipt to disposal. It ensures that no CI is added, modified, replaced or removed without the appropriate controlling documentation e.g. approved Requests for Change of a CI, updated specification. All CIs will be under Change Management (ITSM)
   Change Management (ITSM)
   Change management is an IT service management discipline. The objective of change management in this context is to ensure that standardized methods and procedures are used for efficient and prompt handling of all changes to control IT infrastructure, in order to minimize the number and impact of...
   
    control.
4. Monitoring: Concerned with each CI throughout its life-cycle. It enables changes to CIs and tracking of their records through various statuses, e.g. ordered, received, under test, live, under repair, withdrawn or for disposal.
5. Verification: The reviews and audits that verify the physical existence of CIs, and checks that they are correctly recorded in the CMDB and parts list. It includes the process of verifying Release Management (ITSM) and CM documentation before changes are made to the live environment.

See also

• Configuration management
  Configuration management
  Configuration management is a field of management that focuses on establishing and maintaining consistency of a system or product's performance and its functional and physical attributes with its requirements, design, and operational information throughout its life.For information assurance, CM...
  
  
• Enterprise Architecture
  Enterprise architecture
  An enterprise architecture is a rigorous description of the structure of an enterprise, which comprises enterprise components , the externally visible properties of those components, and the relationships between them...
  
  
• IT Governance
• IT Service Management
  IT Service Management
  IT service management is a discipline for managing information technology systems, philosophically centered on the customer's perspective of IT's contribution to the business. ITSM stands in deliberate contrast to technology-centered approaches to IT management and business interaction...
  
  
• IT Portfolio Management
  IT portfolio management
  IT portfolio management is the application of systematic management to large classes of items managed by enterprise Information Technology capabilities. Examples of IT portfolios would be planned initiatives, projects, and ongoing IT services...
  
  
• Microsoft Operations Framework
  Microsoft Operations Framework
  Microsoft Operations Framework 4.0 is a series of guides aimed at helping information technology professionals establish and implement reliable, cost-effective services.- Overview :...
  
  (MOF)