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 Index 217