Randy Steinberg Migration Technologies

74% Of IT Organizations Cited Dissatisfaction With Their Configuration Management (CMDB) Solutions* Little consideration for business/it problems to be solved Using tool driven (versus data driven) approach Focus on asset inventories versus asset relationships Little focus on data accuracy Information scope way too broad ( boiling the ocean ) Skipped process design You can t simply buy a tool, connect it to discovery tools, and expect everything to work No stakeholder management IT organization (versus CMDB team) has no accountability for data High variation in how CMDB was populated and used Little or no value received for IT dollars spent *2012 itsmf/forrester study

Tooling Vendors Still Have A Long Way To Go Too much focus on asset-based versus configuration-based solutions Visualization sells well at demos but may not work in the real world where there are thousands of CIs, upstream and downstream relationships Almost no vendor has recognized the value in linking CIs to financials, performance and capacity information Capabilities to establish relationships between CIs tend to be weak with much manual effort still required Almost no vendor handles repopulation of data very well wiping out relationship information when CIs are reloaded Almost no CMDB vendor provides data staging, cleanup and transformation of data to consumable CI formats

Strategy #1 - Don t Implement A Tool Solve A Business Problem Without A CMDB IT Is operating blindly and dependent on individuals Operating knowledge is lost when individuals leave Incidents take longer to resolve (researching configurations or waiting for the right person) Business impact of incidents and changes cannot always be determined IT projects and support teams continually repeat efforts to collect configuration information There is an unclear picture of how IT costs are being consumed to deliver services Bottom Line: Can IT succeed in delivering IT services with little view for how assets are put together to deliver them?

Key Takeaway This Is First And Foremost A Data Transformation Project Not a Technology Implementation Project!

Strategy #2 - Treat As A Data Transformation Project 1 2 3 4 5 Take Existing Operating Data Gather Data Stage Data Cleanse Data Map to CMDB Servers Facilities Networks People Applications Databases Storage Existing IT Discovery Tools Spreadsheets and Extracts Data Staging (Data staging and rule base) Rule Bases and Lookup Tables Data Cleansing (Automated Cleansing of Data) Populate CMDB (Tables and Objects) A solution architecture is not just the CMDB, it should include how data will be captured, cleansed, populated and reported on A rule base with lookup tables may be needed to effect and drive the transformation Service Architecture CMDB Reports and Dashboards

Common Data Issues Why stage data? Why cleanse data? Why map data? CI Types For Logical versus Physical items Need a single location to grab and store all information from multiple tools and data sources Duplicates Multiple formats Same CI information from multiple sources Missing or corrupted fields Naming conflicts Which CI type does it go to? Is it a Router? Switch or Gateway? or all 3? What is related to it? What is dependent on it? Physical items may be automated via discovery tools (e.g. servers, switches, routers) Logical items may have to be manually maintained (e.g. services, business functions)

Strategy #3 Make Sure Stakeholders Drive Requirements Unit Stakeholder Initiative Example CI Types To Collect Example Purpose Operations Seymour Butz Data Center Move and Consolidations Operations Seymour Butz Disaster Recovery Servers, racks, locations, routers, switches, services, applications Platforms, servers, applications, services What CIs are where, what CIs make up a service so they all get moved together What CIs need to be recovered? What needs to be recovered to recover a service? Operations Seymour Butz COOP All of above plus critical business functions Which CIs belong with which recovery tiers? What is the lowest recovery tier for a service? Service Desk I. P. Freely Incident Management All of above plus critical business functions What is the upstream and downstream impact of a CI that has experienced an incident? Change Management Bud Wieser Change Management NOC Charity Case Monitoring All of above plus critical business functions All of above plus critical business functions What is the upstream and downstream impact of a proposed change? What is the business impact of a failing router or switch? Technical Support P. Brain Technology Roadmap Planning Platforms, servers, software What CIs do we have installed today? Which ones are planned for upgrades? Retirement?

Strategy #4 Use an Agile CMDB Build Approach Implement solution in cycles with each cycle making increasing amounts of data available to support staff First Populate Select a type and scope of information needed e.g. Servers, Applications e.g. Server configuration reports and information Build reports and stored searches to access data Identify how that information will be sourced e.g. SCCM, Application Portfolios e.g. Created Server and Application relationships in the tool Add the relationships Operationalize data feeds and sources e.g. SCCM data feeds into tool objects e.g. Created Server and Application CIs in the tool Populate the CI Types with data Then Relate!

Suggested Agile Approach: Provide Information Early On And Then Elaborate Start Simple Then Build On That Repeat For Sets Of Information Strategy Data Capture Design Build Transition CMDB Architecture Data Requirements Data Architecture Service Architecture Configuration Strategy Tool Configuration Strategy CMDB Support and Governance Model CMDB Scope and Deployment Strategy Inventory of data sources for CMDB Data Capture Plan and Design Data Capture Operating Procedures Data Stage Populated With Captured Data Finalized Back end data design (capture, stage, transform, populate) Tooling Configuration Design CMDB Management processes CMDB roles and responsibilities CMDB report and dashboard designs Tooling configuration specifications Populated back end Databases Back end and tool data feeds Data load and feed scripts Installed back end platform Installed Configuration Management tables and objects Installed reports and dashboards CMDB Solution Test Results Trained CMDB Operating Staff Go-Live Agreement Deployed CMDB Solution CMDB Reports And Dashboards Next-Wave CMDB Strategic Plan And Roadmap

Strategy #5 Know Your Service Structure Department Employees Business Function Business Service IT Support Service Identify the CI types, attributes and relationships that will form the bill of materials for each IT service System/Web Site Application Radio Printer Server Desktop Phone Network Physical Location

Strategy #6 Lack Of Funding Is Not An Excuse 1. Identify sources of trusted configuration information within your infrastructure (i.e. tables, spreadsheets, databases, hand-drawings, etc.) 2. Assign owners to those items (Owners are responsible for their viability and accuracy) 3. Organize configuration information into CI types and associated filing structure 4. Lock those items down under change management (Can t change them without an RFC) 5. Develop your Configuration Management processes (i.e. Identification, Control, Status Accounting, Verification and Audit) 6. Manage the accuracy and maintainability of those items using the developed Configuration management process Trusted information now easy to find Early practice using Configuration Management processes Reduced/eliminated unplanned labor looking for information Demonstrates early value to others that can lead to more funding

ITSMLib Download Site www.itsmlib.com Free access by writing RandyASteinberg@gmail.com - Provide your name, email address, company and country Log in, go to Service Transition then select the Configuration Management library 1 2

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