Configuration management (CM) ensures that the stakeholders have access to correct and trustworthy information about IT services to support decision-making and service delivery. The lack of a clearly defined configuration management procedure is one of the main problems in IT information management. By identifying the problem, properly implemented ITSM configuration management assists you in resolving issues and helping owners correctly evaluate their modifications and can also aid in preventing them.
Architecture of IT services might be broad and complicated, and you are risking your company if not understood correctly. To keep things organized and ensure that all IT services, hardware, and software operate as efficiently as possible, ITSM service asset & configuration management is crucial. You can opt for IT Service Management Certification courses to learn more about ITSM configuration management.
What is ITSM Configuration Management with Example?
Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) is a set of specific procedures to coordinate IT services with organizational requirements. A group of best practices known as ITSM is a roadmap for organizations. These best practices can be modified and adjusted as necessary by organizations.
ITSM configuration management system aims to develop and maintain consistency in a product's functionality, physical characteristics, and performance. Your firm will benefit from faster incident response times and easier audits by integrating configuration management ITSM into your current processes. It will also ensure that Configuration Items (CIs) are correctly maintained and tracked.
For example, a bank keeps track of its software, components, databases, infrastructures, and facilities in a configuration management database for service support, incident management, and IT risk management.
Why is Configuration Management Important?
The configuration of the systems is crucial to the success of your company. Your systems (servers, networks, operating systems, data centers, configuration files, IT assets, and all other configuration items) function due to configuration.
Many firms use a configuration management database (CMDB), configuration management plan, and configuration manager to ensure proper configuration management to lower cybersecurity risk and enhance operations.
Also, CM helps in:
- Reducing the risk of interruptions and security breaches.
- Results in cost reduction and minimizing unnecessary duplication.
- Improve customer and internal staff experiences by quickly identifying and fixing incorrect setups.
- Provide fast service resolution.
Objectives Of Configuration Management
The CM process has the following five main objectives:
- To provide accurate configuration information and assist in efficient and successful service administration,
- Ascertain that assets are correctly recognized, managed, and cared for throughout their existence.
- Protect the integrity of configuration objects and configurations by mandating access permissions to manage services.
- Manage services and configuration items from beginning to end and record baselines and constituent components.
- Keep accurate and complete records of all configuration data from the past, present, and future.
Benefits of ITSM Configuration Management
ITSM is one of the main components that ensure the business runs smoothly & effectively. The main benefits of ITSM CM are -
- It helps all other ITSM Service Management procedures, particularly change, incident, problem, capacity, and IT service continuity Management, by providing correct information on all CIs and associated documentation.
- It makes useful CIs under your control. This makes it possible, for instance, to quickly replace a server if it breaks down, is stolen, or has been vandalized.
- It enables smooth planning of finances and expenses.
- It allows the company to utilize less unapproved software. Unauthorized software has the potential to boost simplicity while decreasing support expenses.
- It enables the organization to effectively and efficiently carry out impact analyses and schedule changes. This lowers the possibility of modifications negatively influencing the production environment.
- It gives information on incident and problem trends to ITSM Problem Management. As a result, businesses can operate proactively, reducing or eliminating recurring incidents and avoiding the occurrence of brand-new ones.
Components of Configuration Management (CFM)
The components of CM are as follows:
1. Configuration Model
The configuration model describes the relationship between a service and other services, assets, and infrastructure. The configuration model connects all of the business assets and configuration items to prevent any issues arising from interactions between configuration items and assets when changes are made to the IT infrastructure.
2. Configuration Item
Any component that needs to be managed to supply an IT Service is referred to as a CI in ITSM. Change Management is in charge of CIs. IT services, hardware, software, real estate, personnel, and formal documentation like SLAs and process documentation are all often included in CIs.
3. Configuration Record
The properties of the data records are specified in configuration records. There is an attribute configuration record with settings for each attribute in the data records, including the data type for the attribute value, whether each data record's attribute value must be distinct, the groups to which the property belongs, and more.
4. Configuration Management Database (CMDB)
For information technology (IT) systems, a configuration management database (CMDB) serves as a data warehouse or inventory. It contains information about a group of IT assets (often called CIs) and their descriptive connections.
5. Service Assets
Any capability or resource that could help supply a service qualifies as a service asset. You can decide whether assets should be managed for contractual, financial, or operational reasons. When an asset is chosen for management, it develops into a CI. Any of the following asset kinds can be an asset: Management, Organization, Process, Knowledge, People, Information, & more
6. Definitive Management Library (DML)
An organization's definitive, authorized versions of application CIs (software and software packages) are saved and protected in a DML, together with their path, to monitor and manage the software installed within the company.
ITSM Configuration Management Process Flow and Implementation
For change to be implemented quickly, cost-effectively, and with minimal risk, a systematic change management approach is essential, and to do so, ITSM recommends the following process flow -
1. Record
A Request for Change (RFC) form must be filled out for each change to the infrastructure.
2. Review
The change manager, who serves as the gatekeeper, will quickly examine each RFC to determine whether it should be implemented. Is it necessary, beneficial, specific, and feasible? In that case, the RFC will be approved and categorized. If not, it might be turned down and sent back to the person who requested it.
3. Assess
The change manager, the user community, development, support, and other relevant third parties will assess the costs, resources, benefits, and risks (including the potential impact on services) and plan how to implement the change, including a back-out procedure.
4. Authorize
Depending on the type of change and potential impact, the change manager will either authorize the change or escalate it to a higher management echelon for authorization. The change should be added to the Forward Schedule of Changes (FSC) after it has been approved.
5. Coordinate Implementation
Coordination of implementation is the responsibility of the change manager. This includes ensuring that the build, testing, and implementation steps are carried out appropriately and at the appropriate time, as agreed upon and published in the FSC.
6. Analyze and Close
If the change has been effective, the RFC will be closed, and the Post Implementation Review (PIR) will start. This will allow for an evaluation of the change's advantages and the degree to which the change process aided in its implementation. Any lessons discovered during the experience might be applied.
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ITSM Configuration Management Plan with Example & Template
The most well-liked framework for managing IT services is the IT Infrastructure Library (ITSM). The best ITSM templates are provided in this article to assist you quickly comprehend the ITSM framework and start putting it into practice.
1. ITSM Service Portfolio Checklist
This checklist directs the creation of a portfolio of IT services, which aids in creating a service catalog. By making the goal of IT clear, the checklist helps management across the entire organization and the IT team members.
2. IT Service Availability Report Template
The reliability of IT services is the main emphasis of service availability measurement. Utilize this template to quickly determine when your IT services are accessible to clients and report on that percentage.
ITSM Configuration Management Best Practices
Let's rapidly review some of the ITSM configuration management best practices:
1. Recognize and Explain Value of ITSM
Before attempting to put them into practice, you must comprehend how ITSM management techniques may add value to your company's operations. Try to comprehend the issues you want to fix for your company. It will assist you in matching the ITSM objectives with your business goals.
Additionally, to get the greatest outcomes, make sure all departments are aware of the significance of ITSM and are informed about it.
2. Track Every Request and Incident in One Place
Agents will be able to address every problem and request from a single dashboard rather than using a different tool for each channel. Additionally, this will assist your staff save time and concentrate on more important issues involving end users.
3. Determine Risks and Take Preventive Action
No problems at all would make every firm feel fantastic. Employee productivity will be at its highest, and end users will receive uninterruptible IT services. That is never the case, though. Even while you cannot completely avoid concerns, you may still spot hazards and take precautions before they materialize into serious problems.
4. Examine and Provide a Report on Key Performance Indicators
If you don't have vital information regarding your performance, you can't improve the caliber of your IT support. You won't know what you are doing well or where you need to improve. Thus, by producing in-depth reports, it is possible to improve analysis, evaluation, and, most importantly, the decision-making process.
ITSM Configuration Management Challenges
Some of the ITSM configuration management challenges are:
1. Untimely Incident Resolutions
If the incidents are not resolved in the allotted period, they lose value. Offering the consumer quick and alternative options is the best course of action. Up until a solution is reached, which should take a few hours at most, alternatives can be offered.
2. Lack of Proper Comprehension
When accidents happen, technicians shouldn't rush to fix them; instead, they should listen to the customer's problem, research it, and provide remedies accordingly.
3. Lack of Knowledge Among Technicians
Technician staff must share expertise for a successful resolution to improvise any resolution. The technicians should document and record the methods and steps utilized to resolve the event at that time because keeping records helps technicians resolve incidents in the future.
4. Failure to Tell Customers
After the consumers report occurrences and events, the technician classifies the problem, determines the root cause, and begins working on solutions. You may increase customer satisfaction by remaining transparent and including your consumers in all incident resolution dialogues.
You may want to think about or at least be aware of some of the most common tools listed below:
1. Ansible
Ansible, the industry leader with about 27% of the market, is an agentless orchestration and configuration system that manages your servers using playbooks written in YAML.
2. CFEngine
A configuration management solution that has been around for a while, CFEngine runs lightweight agents on the managed resources and converges their configuration to the desired state.
3. System Center Configuration Manager for Microsoft
MSCCM, a Microsoft system configuration and monitoring solution, has a market share of about 22% and controls the setup of Windows-based assets from a single central admin machine.
4. Puppet
With a nearly 12% market share, the configuration management tool Puppet uses a Master-Slave architecture to maintain resources in the desired condition. It is one of the CM systems, along with Chef, that uses Ruby domain-specific languages (DSLs).
5. Chef
With support for a wide range of operating systems, including Windows and Linux, Chef enables you to record configuration management procedures in "recipes" and "cookbooks" that can be readily shared across teams.
Conclusion
The proper amount of IT infrastructure information is captured, preserved, and made accessible to authorized workers by implementing ITSM Configuration Management. We hope this article has helped you understand what ITSM configuration management is and how to do ITSM configuration management. You can opt for KnowledgeHut’s IT Service Management Certificate courses online if you want to enhance your IT service career.
