Implementing ITIL Configuration Management

Practical, Real-World ITIL Configuration Management—From Start to Finish

The IT Infrastructure Library® (ITIL) places the “best practices” in IT operations at your command. ITIL helps you make better technology choices, manages IT more effectively, and drives greater business value from all your IT investments. The core of ITIL is configuration management: the discipline of identifying, tracking, and controlling your IT environment’s diverse components to gain accurate and timely information for better decision-making.

Now, there’s a practical, start-to-finish guide to ITIL configuration management for every IT leader, manager, and practitioner. ITIL-certified architect and solutions provider Larry Klosterboer helps you establish a clear roadmap for success, customize standard processes to your unique needs, and avoid the pitfalls that stand in your way.

You’ll learn how to plan your implementation, deploy tools and processes, administer ongoing configuration management tasks, refine ITIL information, and leverage it for competitive advantage. Throughout, Klosterboer demystifies ITIL’s jargon, illuminates each technique with real-world advice and examples, and helps you focus on the specific techniques that offer maximum business value in your environment.

Coverage includes
Assessing your current configuration management maturity and setting goals for improvement
Gathering and managing requirements to align ITIL with organizational needs
Describing the schema of your configuration management database (CMDB)
Identifying, capturing, and organizing configuration data
Choosing the best tools for your requirements
Integrating data and processes to create a unified logical CMDB and configuration management service
Implementing pilot projects to demonstrate the value of configuration management and to test your planning
Moving from a pilot to wide-scale enterprise deployment
Defining roles for deployment and ongoing staffing
Leveraging configuration management information: Reporting and beyond
Measuring and improving CMDB data accuracy
Covers ITIL version 3.

Preface xvii
Acknowledgments xxi
About the Author xxiii

Chapter 1: Overview of Configuration Management 1
Part I: Planning for Configuration Management 17
Chapter 2: Gathering and Analyzing Requirements 19
Chapter 3: Determining Scope, Span, and Granularity 37
Chapter 4: Customizing the Configuration Management Process 55
Chapter 5: Planning for Data Population 67
Chapter 6: Putting Together a Useful Project Plan 85
Part II: Implementing Configuration Management 97
Chapter 7: Choosing the Right Tools 99
Chapter 8: Implementing the Process 117
Chapter 9: Populating the Configuration Management Database 127
Chapter 10: Choosing and Running a Pilot Program 137
Chapter 11: Communication and Enterprise Roll Out 149
Part III: Running an Effective Configuration Management System 161
Chapter 12: Building a Configuration Management Team 163
Chapter 13: The Many Uses for Configuration Information 179
Chapter 14: Measuring and Improving CMDB Accuracy 193
Chapter 15: Improving the Business Value of Configuration Management 207