The CMDB imperative: how to realize the dream and avoid the nightmares

Contents......Page 8
Foreword......Page 12
Prologue......Page 14
Acknowledgments......Page 16
About the Authors......Page 22
Chapter 1 The Need for Process Discipline......Page 24
 A Credibility Crisis for IT......Page 25
 How IT Can Redeem Itself......Page 26
 The Power of Process......Page 28
 A Brief Review of Configuration in the ITIL Processes......Page 29
 The Configuration Management Process......Page 39
 Why the Term “CMDB” Must Go Away—and It Is…Slowly!......Page 44
 Frequently Asked Questions......Page 45
 Summary......Page 47
Chapter 2 What Is a CMDB?......Page 48
 The Birth of the CMDB......Page 49
 Configuration Items......Page 50
 A Brief Explanation of CMDB Federation......Page 63
 CIs as the CMDB “DNA”......Page 66
 Reconciliation......Page 68
 The CMS Arrives......Page 70
 Populating the CMS......Page 71
 CMS as an Integration Mechanism......Page 73
 Frequently Asked Questions......Page 75
 Summary......Page 78
Chapter 3 Planning for the CMS......Page 80
 Do You Need a CMS and Why?......Page 82
 Reality: What Is the State of the CMS Market?......Page 84
 Acceptance: Selling the CMS to the Organization......Page 91
 Structure: How Will the CMS Fit In?......Page 97
 Quantity: How Many CMDBs Are Needed in the CMS?......Page 99
 Accountability: Who “Owns” the CMS?......Page 101
 Reuse: What Incumbent Tools Can Be Leveraged?......Page 104
 Schedule: What Timelines Are Realistic?......Page 107
 Frequently Asked Questions......Page 111
 Summary......Page 112
 Turning Data into Useful Information......Page 114
 The Relationships Are Critical......Page 115
 Where Is the Data?......Page 117
 Link Data into Information Using Metadata......Page 121
 The Distributed CMS in Practice......Page 128
 Why Federation Makes More Sense Than a Monolithic CMDB......Page 148
 Integrating External Domains in the Federated Model......Page 151
 Frequently Asked Questions......Page 152
 Summary......Page 154
Chapter 5 CMS Deployment Strategy......Page 156
 Getting Your Hands Dirty......Page 158
 What Comes First?......Page 160
 Building Service and Application Infrastructure Models—It’s What Matters......Page 169
 Wait for the “Uber-CMDB/CMS” Technology…If You Can......Page 175
 Attack the Domains......Page 180
 Leverage Incumbent Tools......Page 191
 Frequently Asked Questions......Page 197
 Summary......Page 198
Chapter 6 Integration—There’s No Way Around It!......Page 200
 Standards: Past, Present, and Future......Page 201
 Vendor Readiness......Page 211
 CMS Object Modeling......Page 212
 Software Engineering and Development Skills......Page 214
 Frequently Asked Questions......Page 217
 Summary......Page 218
 Dynamic Technologies and Services Fuel the CMS Imperative......Page 220
 The Extra Dimension of Time......Page 239
 ITIL v3 and the CMDB Shift......Page 247
 The Service Catalog and the CMS......Page 251
 Object Modeling Technologies Need to Mature......Page 256
 CMS: The Lifeblood of Every IT and Business Service Function......Page 257
 Frequently Asked Questions......Page 261
 Summary......Page 262
 Metrics for the CMS......Page 264
 The Cyclic Nature of Improvement......Page 267
 Begin with Small Steps and Build Out......Page 271
 Statistical Quality Control......Page 276
 Maintain Data and Information Accuracy......Page 279
 Evolve Based on Customer Requirements......Page 282
 Frequently Asked Questions......Page 285
 Summary......Page 286
Chapter 9 Leveraging the CMS......Page 288
 Inbound CMS Data......Page 289
 Outbound CMS Data......Page 303
 The Complete Circle......Page 317
 Frequently Asked Questions......Page 318
 Summary......Page 319
 Measuring Success......Page 320
 Evangelizing Your Success......Page 327
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