Home 
 1. Overview  
 What is Configuration Management?  
 Why use Configuration Management?  
 Who uses Configuration Management?  
 How Configuration Management works  
 What does Configuration Management cost?  
 2. Implementation guide  
 Define what needs to be done  
 Prepare to implement  
 Implement  
 Review the implementation  
 Implementation resources  
 3. Operations guide  
 What needs to be done?  
 When does it need doing?  
 Who does it?  
 Operational resources  
 4. Toolkit  
 Examples  
 Templates 
 5. Roles and responsibilities  
 CMDB administrator  
 Configuration manager  
 Implementer  
 6. Review of Configuration Management  
 Recap of Configuration Management  
 Checklist  
What needs to be done?
Updating Configuration Management Database Auditing and verifying configuration items Monitoring the Configuration Management process Making decisions
The ongoing operational tasks for configuration management are:


Go back to Operations Guide
Updating Configuration Management Database
The configuration management database must be continually updated as a result of all additions, moves, removals and changes to configuration items.  Failure to do so will result in meaningless information.

Follow the update processes to maintain the database:
  • Request for change process
  • Service desk guide to completing the incident/request sheet
  • Stock control
Auditing and verifying configuration items
Periodic checks need to be carried out to ensure that the contents of the configuration management database reflect the reality of the infrastructure.  This is done via an audit of all equipment against the records kept. All discrepancies must be noted and the configuration management database brought into line.

Bear in mind the following points when carrying out an audit.
  • Plan and schedule the audit.
  • Freeze the movement of all configuration items to be audited for the duration of the audit.
  • Execute the audit quickly, with as little interruption as possible.
  • Print out a hard copy of the fields in the database and record data manually in the first instance.
  • Alternatively use a laptop to enter data directly into the database.
Monitoring the Configuration Management process
It is important to monitor the Configuration Management process to ensure that it is working.  The evidence of this will be found during the periodic audit and verification and the results of this exercise should be published in the form of a report.

The following measurements should be easy to gather and report on:
  • number of configuration items in the CMDB at time of audit
  • number of physical configuration items following audit
  • number of incorrect records in CMDB at time of audit.

To get started on some simple measurements and reporting download our audit report template with graphs produced in Excel.  Follow the instructions to fill in your volumes of configuration item records, physical items and number of incorrect records and select the graph before printing.

The configuration management audit report example has been completed with dummy figures.
Making decisions
The audit report should provide some basic information to help assess the effectiveness of the process.  The report itself will not produce the answers, but will provide the starting point for investigation.  Remember that there may be many possible reasons for discrepancies - for example:
  • more configuration item records than physical items may mean that equipment has been removed without authorisation, or it may mean that equipment has been disposed of legitimately but the records have not been updated
  • more physical items than records may mean that new equipment has been implemented but the records not updated, or it may mean that unauthorised equipment has been installed without the knowledge of those responsible for technical support
  • an increase in the number of incorrect entries may indicate that the process is not working, or it may be relative to an increased number of requests for change and incident/request forms in that period.

Don't look at the figures in isolation, but consider them within the overall context and also look at the reports from other processes such as Change Management, Incident Management, Problem Management and Release Management.
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