Create a Configuration Management Roadmap

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Without a configuration management database (CMDB) or formal configuration management, there is no way to obtain information about the assets that support IT services or the relationships between them.
This makes it difficult for IT departments to successfully execute more client-facing service management activities, particularly incident and change management.
Most organizations recognize the value of investing in a CMDB, but are wary of the cost involved and assume that the CMDB must contain information about every IT asset.
Clients who do decide to invest in a CMDB often jump straight to solution selection and design, without ever considering the business case for building or purchasing a CMDB.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

ITIL’s version of configuration management will be too expensive and costly for most small or medium-sized organizations to implement.
Without proper scoping and planning, organizations risk wasting time and resources procuring and maintaining an overly complex system.
You do not need a system to record and monitor every asset in your environment in order to reap the benefits of configuration management. You just need to consider what your CMDB will accomplish before you invest.
Configuration management, executed with a CMDB, is an enabling process. You cannot build or purchase a CMDB until you know which processes it will be supporting.
If you do not gather the necessary requirements up front, you risk deploying a CMDB that is not useful to the people and processes who should benefit from it.

Impact and Result

Gather comprehensive stakeholder requirements in order to accurately define the organization’s configuration management objectives and identify the IT processes that will be redesigned to integrate with a CMDB.
Choose an appropriate technology target state. Configuration management can be achieved with a homegrown spreadsheet or vendor solution; the choice of solution will be driven largely by the complexity of your current environment and the availability of resources.
Estimate the cost and benefit of re-designing the processes identified during the requirements gathering stage and prioritize them accordingly.
Create a complete roadmap of initiatives that can be presented to stakeholders to obtain buy-in for selecting and implementing a CMDB and formal configuration management process.

Create a Configuration Management Roadmap Research & Tools

1. Succeed with a right-sized configuration management roadmap

Gain an understanding of the potential benefits of implementing a CMDB and determine if your organization is ready to proceed with this project.

2. Launch the project

Assemble a project team and define objectives and deliverables.

3. Gather requirements and frame the end state

Identify the processes that will be re-designed through integration with a CMDB.

4. Select a technology target state & build a project roadmap

Decide what type of CMDB to implement, prioritize initiatives based on business value, and generate the project roadmap.

5. Sell the roadmap

Decide which metrics will be tracked to assess CMDB implementation success and obtain roadmap approval.

Member Testimonials

After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real-time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this blueprint and what our clients have to say.

Client

Experience

Impact

$ Saved

Days Saved

Testimonial

CRH: Americas Materials

Workshop

10/10

N/A

Regional Sanitation & Sacramento Area Sewer District

Workshop

8/10

N/A

Educating staff on the concept and the importance of Config Management in other related IT processes.

Resorts World Las Vegas

Guided Implementation

10/10

$6,199

Southern Cross Austereo

Guided Implementation

10/10

$31,833

The session was full of practical, actionable information.

Lamb Weston

Workshop

7/10

$61,999

Alcoa Corporation

Guided Implementation

9/10

N/A

Scientific Games Corporation

Guided Implementation

10/10

N/A

California Department of Industrial Relations

Guided Implementation

10/10

$63,667

Load More Testimonials

Workshop: Create a Configuration Management Roadmap

Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

Module 1: Launch the Project

The Purpose

Decide what your objectives are for configuration management.
Establish consistent definitions for stakeholders.
Make the case for a CMDB at your organization.

Key Benefits Achieved

Defined configuration management goals.
A clear set of definitions to ensure that everyone is on the same page.
An understanding of the benefits of investing in a CMDB and configuration management.

Activities

Outputs

1.1

Identify goals

Defined objectives.

1.2

Establish definitions

Established definitions.

1.3

Identify pain points

Defined pain points.

1.4

Identify CMDB benefits

Defined benefits

1.5

Identify and analyze stakeholders

Defined stakeholders.

Module 2: Gather Requirements

The Purpose

Identify business and IT drivers that will impact the scope of your CMDB implementation.
Identify the IT processes that will benefit most from integration with a CMDB.
Define your CMDB end state by identifying the pain points that will be addressed by the CMDB and considering the ways in which the CMDB will help resolve the pain points and improve the processes.

Key Benefits Achieved

Defined business and IT drivers to guide target state design.
Selection of IT processes that will be re-designed to integrate the CMDB.
A clear CMDB end state that will facilitate a more successful implementation.

Activities

Outputs

2.1

Identify business and IT drivers

Defined business and IT drivers.

2.2

Identify impacted IT processes

A list of impacted IT processes that will be improved through use of a CMDB.

2.3

Define the end state

A defined end state: a list of processes that will be re-designed, the pain points that will be addressed by the CMDB, and use cases.

Module 3: Perform a Gap Analysis

The Purpose

Decide what type of CMDB technology is best suited to your current environment, capabilities, and objectives.
Document a roadmap for implementing the CMDB solution.
Assess the cost and benefit of each CMDB initiative (both technology and process initiatives).

Key Benefits Achieved

Selected technology target state for your CMDB (type of CMDB that you will invest in).
A roadmap for your first roadmap initiative: implementing the CMDB.
Documented cost, duration, and benefit of executing each process initiative in your CMDB roadmap.

Activities

Outputs

3.1

Assess current environment

Assessment of current environment to guide target state design.

3.2

Select technology target state and document technology roadmap

Selected technology target state and roadmap for CMDB implementation.

3.3

Assess initiative cost and benefit

Documented cost, duration, and benefit of all process initiatives.

Module 4: Finalize and Sell the Roadmap

The Purpose

Prioritize each intiative in your roadmap based on cost, benefit, and dependencies between processes.
Complete the CMDB roadmap.
Select the metrics that will be used to assess CMDB success.
Prepare to launch the first initiative by creating an action plan with next steps.

Key Benefits Achieved

All roadmap initiatives prioritized.
CMDB roadmap completed.
Succes metrics selected.
Action plan defined.

Activities

Outputs

4.1

Prioritize initiatives and complete roadmap

Completed configuration management roadmap.

4.2

Select success metrics

CMDB success metrics.

4.3

Prepare to launch the first initaitive

Action plan of next steps.

Create a Configuration Management Roadmap visualization

A CMDB is only as valuable as the processes it supports.

About Info-Tech

Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.

We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

What Is a Blueprint?

A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.

Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.

Table of Contents

Need Extra Help?
Speak With An Analyst

Get the help you need in this 1-phase advisory process. You'll receive 4 touchpoints with our researchers, all included in your membership.

Call 1: Launch the project

Our advisors will help you structure your project and define your objectives so that you get off to a productive start.
Call 2: Gather requirements

We will help you decide which processes will be re-designed for use of a CMDB, ensuring your solution delivers maximum value.
Call 3: Build the roadmap

We will review your completed roadmap and discuss the costs and benefits of each intiative.
Call 4: Sell the roadmap

We will review the inputs to your CMDB business case and help you select success metrics.

Authors

Paul Brown

Abiella Schneider-Friedman

Contributors

Annie Carlson, IT Director, Town of Leesburg
Carlos Casanova, Author, Solutions Architect & Organizational Change Executive Advisory, K2 Solutions Group, Inc.
Colin Earl, CEO, Agiloft
Michael Flynn, Senior Director Business Process Operations, Data Intensity
Chris Hammond, Configuration and Change Manager, Department of Labor
Glen Notman, Associate Partner, Citihub Consulting
Michael Poltenovage, Enterprise CMDB Architect, VCE
Tony Sodaro, Senior Manager, Technology and Architecture, Hydro One
Joseph Sgandurra. Director of Managed Services Delivery & Excellence, Navantis
Alan Zimmermann, Director, Information Technology, Professional Engineers Ontario