Aegis Solutions - Configuration Management

The goals of Configuration Management are to:

• Account for all the IT assets and configurations within the organization and its services.
• Provide accurate information on configurations and their documentation to support all the other Service Management processes
• Provide a sound basis for Incident Management, Problem Management and Change Management.
• Verify the configuration records against the infrastructure and correct any exceptions.

Configuration Management covers the identification, recording, and reporting of IT components, including their versions, constituent components and relationships. Items that should be under the control of Configuration Management include hardware, software and associated documentation.

• Easily allocate a CI to a user and or a client and re-allocate it when necessary.

• Track service history and the total service cost for each CI.

• Attach an unlimited number of files to each CI.
• Link child CIs to parent CIs. 
• Link CIs to Incidents, Problems or RFCs.

Benefits of Configuration Management

The real value of IT assets is generally much greater than their capital value because of the part these assets play in supporting the provision of quality IT services. The consequential loss to the organization if these services are not provided can be very great.

Configuration Management contributes to the economic and effective delivery of IT services by:

• Providing accurate information on CIs and their documentation. This information supports all other Service Management processes, such as Release Management, Change Management, Incident Management, Problem Management, Capacity Management and Contingency Planning. For example, if a new product is available that requires a minimum configuration, Configuration Management can provide information for upgrade planning and replacements.
• Controlling valuable CIs. For example, if a computer were stolen then it would have to be replaced. Configuration Management helps IT management to know what its assets are supposed to be, who is responsible for their safekeeping, and whether the actual inventory matches the official one.
• Facilitating adherence to legal obligations. Configuration Management maintains an inventory of all items of software within an IT infrastructure. CIs that come to light, via configuration audits or calls to the Service Desk, that are not on this list are not authorized and may well have not been paid for. Illegal copies can easily be identified, for erasure or destruction.
• Helping with financial and expenditure planning. Configuration Management provides a complete list of CIs. It is easy to produce from this list expected maintenance costs and license fees; maintenance contracts; license renewal dates; CI life expiry dates; and CI replacement costs (provided that this information is stored). By providing this information Configuration Management contributes to IT directorates' financial planning.
• Making software Changes visible. Such Changes can be used to trigger investigations by IT management into possible Changes that may be needed for data protection, license management and regulatory compliance.
• Contributing to contingency planning. The CMDB and secure libraries facilitate the restoration of IT service in the event of a disaster, by identifying the required CIs and their location.
• Supporting and improving Release Management. Configuration Management information supports the roll-out across distributed locations by providing information on the versions of CIs and Changes incorporated into a Release.
• Improving security by controlling the versions of CIs in use. This makes it more difficult for these CIs to be changed accidentally, maliciously, or for erroneous versions to be added.
• Enabling the organization to reduce the use of unauthorized software. Unauthorized software and non-standard and variant builds all increase complexity and support costs, and so any reduction in their occurrence should bring benefits to the organization.
• Allowing the organization to perform impact analysis and schedule Changes safely, efficiently and effectively. This reduces the risk of Changes affecting the live environment.
• Providing Problem Management with data on trends. Such data will relate to trends in Problems affecting particular CI types, e.g. from particular suppliers or development groups, for use in improving the IT services. This information on Problem trends supports the proactive prevention of Problems.