C M D B. From theory to practice

(1)

C M D B

— From theory to practice —

(2)

C M D B

— From theory to practice —

Table of content Introduction

1. What is a CMDB? 3

2. What does a CMDB consist of and is it an asset? 5

3. What are the advantages of CMDB? 7

4. How to introduce a CMDB, in theory? 8

5. What effects can you expect with CMDB? 11

6. From theory to practice: How Basalt introduced CMDB 13

16

20

21 In this guide, you will get a basic understanding of what CMDB is and its

processes, as well as how to implement CMDB, from theory, to practical use in your organization To begin, we will give you knowledge, tips and ideas that you can apply in your CMDB project, discuss why you should introduce CMDB, and what benefits it delivers for your organization

A practical deployment is included, you will follow the company Basalt AB during their deployment of CMDB and find out what they learned from implementing CMDB

Good luck with your CMDB project!

A Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is often seen as the heart of an ITSM system. A CMDB is a repository that acts as a data warehouse that stores information about your IT environment, such as the components and processes used to deliver IT services.

7. CMDB – 4 years after introduction ServiceDesk Plus

About Inuit

(3)

C M D B

ITIL has become a very popular term when working with IT. Many people use the term, but how many know exactly what it means?

ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) is a set of of best practises developed during the 1980s by the UK Government, designed to standard- ise IT management practices across government functions

Responding to growing dependence on IT, the Government’s Central Computer and Telecommuni- cations Agency built a process model-based view of controlling and managing operations When people started compiling their tips, experiences and best practises, activities could be organized in a more methodical manner And ITIL, as we now know it, was conceived

A defined process approach

ITIL is considered to be the most widely used frame- work for IT operations management

ITIL is a uniform language for IT operations and management A number of processes are defined, responsibilities are appointed and quality objectives are specified With the latest version of ITIL, “objectives” are referred to as ”practices”

The roles that exist within the various practices are handled by IT personnel Those responsible for practices are responsible for design, documentation, training and also for continual improvement

ITIL makes it possible to measure the performance of each practice It is possible, for example, to

measure the number of incidents that occur due to a lack of capacity in a particular system Measuring this metric may highlight other processes, which gives a holistic overview of the capacity of any given process, or components of, an IT system

There are numerous practices for ITIL, Configura- tion Management (CM) is one of them

The purpose of CM is to provide information on all

1. What is a CMDB?

Opportunity

/demand Value

Guiding principles

Continual improvment

Service value chain Governance

Practices

A key benefit of ITIL is that communication between departments and people improves.

(4)

C M D B

the Configuration Items (CIs) that exist in an IT environment This should, in turn, benefit other practices, such as incident or change management CM is performing well if it contributes to a better basis for decision making, safer and faster implementation of changes and also a more effective solution for incidents and problems CM should be able to answer questions about how relationships and dependencies look, or what capacity exists for a specific server ITIL divides the CM target into three parts:

• Support many of ITIL’s practices by contributing accurate CI information to facilitate efficient decision-making This can be, for example, approving changes, planning releases, solving incidents or resolving problems faster

• Minimize the number of QA and compliance issues caused by incorrect or inappropriate configuration of services or assets

• To define and control the components of services and infrastructure, and to maintain accurate CI information on legacy, current and planned state of services and infrastructure

In 2015, Parthibian conducted a study on why organizations do not introduce a CMDB, and the two main reasons were:

• CMDB had no priority

• Never heard of CMDB

CMDB is part of the CM practice and is therefore not a separate component of the 17 Service Manage- ment Practices included in ITIL

CMDB naturally acts as a repository and reference point for all processes that use it It helps answer questions, such as which programming language a system uses? Who owns a particular computer? Is a particular application correctly licensed? What support agreements are available, etc License management is frequently a complicated issue for companies, especially where different types of licenses are used If an organization does not know what is in its IT environment, or how systems and applications relate to each other, how can the IT department manage, refine or support the business effectively?

S. Görling (2009)

A central part of the CM process is made up of a database of information

about every various device, system, application and configuration in a business

According to ITIL, the purpose of CM is to make it possible to identify, control, register, report, change and verify service assets and Configuration Items CM must be possible to account for, manage and protect the integrity of service assets and CIs through the service life cycle, which is achieved by ensuring only authorized components are used and that no unauthorized changes are made to an asset The integrity of assets and configurations should be ensured in order to make it possible to control services and IT infrastructure The purpose of this is to maintain a correct and complete configuration management system CM, however, not only keeps information about all CIs, but above all, keeps track of their relationships

(5)

C M D B

A CMDB consists of a multitude of Configuration Items, CIs.

There are several definitions of a CI Lacy & Norfolk (2010) defines a CI as ”all objects that must be managed to deliver an IT service A CI is typically all IT services, hardware, software, building, people and formal documentation, such as process documents Information and service level agreement Informa- tion about each CI, is recorded in a configuration record and then maintained throughout its entire life cycle by the CM”

Eriksson & Öberg (2013) give examples of a CI and mention that it is a ”physical object or software that fulfills a specific function It can be an important security detail, a finished product or a functioning unit”

Alatalo & Vallgren (2015) believe that a CI can be

”anything from hardware to software to documentation” They believe that everything that can be installed, replaced or changed in an IT environment, must be mapped and defined

ITIL (2015) considers that a CI is ”an asset, component or other object that is, or is going to be, controlled by CM The objects can vary widely in complexity, size and type, which can range from an entire service or system including all hardware, software, documentation and support personnel, to a single software model or a smaller hardware

component” It is possible to group CIs, thus managing them together This may be relevant, for example, if several components belong to the same set and can then be included in a release However, a CI should

be selected on the basis of established selection criteria, grouped, classified and identified, in such a way that they become manageable and traceable throughout the entire service life cycle

2. What does a CMDB consist of and is it an asset?

(6)

C M D B

So how do you know what should be a CI?

Ask the questions below to get a good idea:

• What information is needed to make it possible to register and maintain each CI?

• Why is it necessary to store this information?

• Who will use the stored information? Is it possible to rely on the data that is stored or will new information need to be collected?

• How will the information be used? Is it part of a calculation? Is it to support future decisions?

• What is the cost/benefit of collecting and main- taining the defined level of data?

• How can the data be stored and/or presented to those who need the information effectively, without impacting other users?

CIs have an inherent relationship with each other Relationships describe how CIs work together to deliver a service Relationships between CIs are configured so that they provide information about any dependencies that exist

Examples of relationships:

• One CI is part of another CI

• One CI is connected to another CI

• One CI uses another CI

• One CI is installed on another CI

The value of a CI is determined by its interactions with the rest of the environment and what roles it

performs Each CI is considered to have its own unique sphere of interest Influence will extend to, and affect, a variety of systems and processes Finally, CIs have many relationships and dependencies with other CIs in the business environment Data on the efficiency level in Change Enablement (called Change Management in older versions of

ITIL) and how project goals are met, is now available The more efficient a project is implemented according to Change Enablement, the more parti- cipants in the project team (and commissioners of the projects) think that the goal of the project is achieved or even exceeded

Cl

Business Service Applications

Services Server Network

Runs: Runs by Hosted on: Hosts Located in: Houses Supported by: Supports

Supported by: Enables

CM

Reference point Processes

IT env.

IT dep.

Support

Is a part of Should be one

Should give a

Simplifies daily work for better overview of

should be seen as one

And these

Relationships

To

(7)

C M D B

The basic principle of ITIL is to create better control over the IT department’s operations, by creating a clearer rela- tionship between clients and suppliers.

CMDB enables optimization of the service assets performance, which improves the overall service, costs and exposure to risk caused by poorly managed assets, for example, operating disruptions can be optimized

3. What are the advantages of CMDB?

CMDB

Change Enablement Configuration

Management

Incident Management More...

Problem Management

• CMDB offers more insight to the performance of a service, release or environment, making it easier to plan changes and future releases

• Solutions to incidents and problems become more complete, changes are traceable and identification of costs for a specific service are now possible

• Cost savings and process optimization are more easily identified and quantified

• The provision of information regarding CI and their documentation is available to the entire business

• Better control of valuable CIs, especially those critical to the running of the business

• It is easier to provide more thorough and accurate information when planning finances and expenses

• Planning becomes easier overall by identifying potential impacts before implementing changes

• It is easier to support and improve releases while making changes, such as software updates

• Contingency planning becomes possible on a broader level, as the organization can perform impact assessments and schedule changes safely and efficiently

• CMDB helps problem management by providing information on the performance of your CIs

Benefits of using a CMDB:

(8)

C M D B

It can appear challenging to implement a CMDB in an organization. What are some best practises for implementing it?

One of the hurdles encountered during implementation is the perception that building a system, that will function at every level of detail in the organization, is difficult Frequently, an organisation’s own processes misalign with ITIL best-practises And processes influence the performance of CMDB To be able to use CMDB correctly, knowledge of ITIL is required This does not only apply to decision-makers, but also to end-users, who benefit from understanding the process flow

The best way to introduce a CMDB is to simplify things, keep it simple and find details for your CIs In other words, the intention is to define the depth of the categories to be discovered and retained by CMDB Developing your own CMDB is no easy task, even if you use tools that automatically find the correct CI to use It is also a time-consuming task to perform You should consider this a project for the year, rather than the next few months Imple- menting CMDB is a constant work in progress

According to ITIL, the introduction of a CMDB should take place in five stages:

1. Planning 2. Identification 4. Monitoring 5. Verification

The Identification phase defines the configuratio n model, assets and CIs CIs should be identified based on unique attributes

The Control phase focuses on the methods used to control each CI With control, ITIL aims to create, build, install, move, add and modify an object The Monitoring phase should include both current and historical information about the CIs and their life cycle

The final step is to regularly check and Verify CI data in the database against what is happening in reality

4. How to introduce a CMDB, in theory?

The theory states that the primary prerequisite for succeeding with CMDB, is to forget what the

books say and use common sense.

3. Control

The Planning phase aims to understand and define the purpose, goals, guidelines and procedures considered appropriate and necessary within the organization

It is important that the processes are carried out at the right time, this is for all parties involved to be properly prepared. The next step is to determine what should be in the CMDB. It is important to have limits on what information should be available

(9)

C M D B

A CMDB should contain:

a) IT objects that are business critical

b) Define how those objects are related to each other c) Define how those relationships impact the organ-

ization

CMDB can be customized and expanded to handle all daily IT infrastructure The next step is to specify relationships between CIs Just like human relationships, CI relationships can be complicated It is important to know what is running on each machine, what relationships exist and what is impacted if a CI goes down or is not reachable This will help your CMDB implementation

It’s daunting to maintain a complete and accurate record of all the IT assets within the business For this reason, many companies therefore decide to in- itially focus on a specific subset of all assets

To know which objects to include, one can use three criteria:

a Categorization – limits the monitoring activities to a CI within a specific asset area

c Risk based – Tracking CIs that have an important role in providing services and support

Even if the above criteria are used to identify CIs in an initial phase, there is nothing to say that the organization must create a register of each part of the IT equipment It’s helpful to remember this when it comes to identifying CIs

a greater amount of extra work The organization should always balance the work effort, and the business benefit, in order to focus on realistic levels It is not necessary to offer more detail than that which provides support for other processes Organizations should avoid CIs that cannot be moved, changed or copied individually Conversely, CIs that are critical to services used should receive additional focus and attention

b Cost thresholds – tracking CIs that are above a certain economic value

Detail levels for CIs vary between organizations, but a common denominator is that they are often

hierarchically divided It’s theoretically possible for an organization to track each individual screw inside a computer, but at the same time this creates

(10)

C M D B

ITIL recommends dividing important CI information into three areas:

1 Technical details – data describing CI capacity, this includes software versions, model numbers, hardware and manufacturer’s specifications Other technical details such as network speed and data storage size are also considered valuable Accessories such as cables, mice, keyboards, etc are considered consumables

2 Owners – ownership history, date of purchase, warranty information, location and responsible person for CI Identification numbers such as barcodes, type, software, hardware and documentation are also considered as owner attributes 3 Relationships – Relationships between hardware

components, software and users For example a computer used by Kalle, has Microsoft Office installed on it

Relationships can be organised into 3 groups:

1 – Primary relationships

Primary relationships include items such as:

Technical dependencies: Physical dependencies (upstream and downstream) between one object and another

Logical dependencies: processes, systems, applications and services

• Performance: Levels of accessibility and responsiveness

• People: Current owners and users 2 – Secondary relationships

The name of secondary relationships can be considered highly misleading This is because secondary relationships are at least as crucial to the business as primary relationships

Secondary relationships include:

• Location: where a CI was found, where it was located and where it has not yet been

• Components: The specific components of the asset

• Agreement: The terms that apply to the specific CI

• Organizations: Manufacturer, supplier, responsible person, etc

3 – Indirect relationships

It can be valuable to create a map of relationships to find things that are indirectly linked to a CI Such a relationship enables a more advanced analysis of complex problems that appear to have a linear, or direct relationship between contributing factors Indirect relationships are used to determine un- derstood relationships but without undertaking any management to define or maintain direct links Relationships considered indirect:

There are many different parts to consider when introducing CMDB Take advantage of the recom- mendations of in the books, and adapt your work to the conditions that exist in your particular organization

Primary Relationships

Secondary

Relationships Indirect Relationships

Department/team: Groups of people who are connected to department assets

Cost center: Financial account codes that have links to location, departments or business units

(11)

C M D B

There are multiple definitions of an effect, but in this context we see an effect as the long-term result of a process.

CMDB is an important part of success- fully implementing ITIL in the organ- ization, but there are potential traps along the way. There is strong evidence indicating CMDB projects can become dangerous when independent groups within IT (service desk, data center etc.) try to build their ”own” CMDB.

An important effect after the introduction of CMDB is that IT operations are given better control to maintain (upgrades, closures, etc ) and to comply with applicable standards

Müller (2015) identified through CMDB usage, that 70% of the costs associated with a change were spent on identifying the IT infrastructure, its components and locating CIs According to the author, most of these costs could have been avoided if more accurate information was available at the time of the change Potential risks with a change can be assessed in advance and the negative effects can be minimized with the help of CMDB The author summarizes that CMDB is the foundation for cost savings and process optimization

The result of a survey, in which respondents were asked to rate the benefits of a CMDB:

• 46% responded that there is support for change and the ability to know when and where the change is happening

• 58% highlighted the ability of CMDB to integrate data across multiple solutions, including patch management, software distribution, and change management

• 39% believe that CMDB provides support for IT governance and compliance

5. What effects can you expect with CMDB?

Effects you can expect after the introduction of CMDB:

It will be easier to understand the definition of all IT services offered to the organization It will also be easier to explain costs and expected service levels linked to delivery, in a way that users find understan- dable

CMDB makes it possible to conduct comparative analysis with external alternative providers of these services

It is possible for users to define and negotiate the services they need, and thus also define and operate the content that must be maintained in the CMDB

It is a mechanism for tracking service level at cost, which allows a methodology of evaluating if the service meets customer expectations and delivering value for money

When information is stored in a central database, such as a CMDB and constantly updated to reflect changes, the updated information can be used to assess the effects and risks of proposed infrastructure changes

A B C D E

(12)

C M D B

There are a number of measurable benefits of CMDB:

Having a CMDB creates a unified system for regis- tration of a company’s IT landscape Simultaneous- ly, it becomes easier for measuring and reporting of IT services It is possible to carry out automatic scans of your infrastructure and applications to get them into the CMDB The effects are many and significant But very few organizations implement a CMDB, perhaps due to a lack of knowledge or a lack of time

Together we can help increase our knowledge about this, so more people become familiar with CMDB and experience its benefits!

• Up to 30% less time is spent on impact assessment of changes in the IT landscape

• Up to 30% reduction in change-related incidents

• Up to 25% reduction in the time required for service work

• Up to 25% reduction of time to solve incidents

• Up to 20% reduction in time for designing and building new IT systems

70% of the costs associated with a change were spent on identifying the IT infrastructure and its components

and locating the CI.

Ska denna vara kvar?

(13)

C M D B

At the same time, there were expectations that a CMDB would help to better derive problems and remedy them There were also expectations that a CMDB would facilitate license management, in such a way that it would be easier to see what the most common relationships were and which licenses were most often used One of the respondents did not really know what CMDB would provide Planning of CMDB

ITIL (2015) mentions planning CMDB as one of the

key activities around its implementation Planning was done by creating a project in ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus Project planning was carried out in consultation with a colleague so as not to forget any important parts Four important milestones were identified with associated tasks All tasks were de- scribed, and their time was estimated The descrip- tion would be clear, so that anyone could complete the tasks The project plan had clear guidelines,

6. From theory to practice: How Basalt introduced CMDB

Now let’s look at how Basalt AB intro- duced CMDB. In order to have compara- bile data, we conducted a survey before the introduction, and another survey after the introduction. The first survey was focused on getting the operating technicians perspective of their work situation before the introduction of CMDB.

The respondents expected that a CMDB system would provide a better overview of the components that made up the internal IT environment They want- ed to be able to derive and remedy problems in an improved way The respondents agreed that a CMDB would help to show the links that exist between different services and hardware

goals and objectives for the CMDB. Based on what ITIL says, these are the most important areas to cover.

In order for a CMDB to contain relevant information, it’s important to consider your CI types when defin- ing them At Basalt, there were many CIs that could have been included, but to avoid something important being forgotten, we identified general CI types, and used these to provide an overview of the parts

(14)

C M D B

It is difficult when introducing a CMDB to fit every level of detail in a company, to increase the chance of cover- ing as much as possible to create a CI type At Basalt we chose to divide this into six different CI types:

2. The second type of CI is Services, which contains all the services that people, both staff and customers, can use Examples of two services that are widely used in the company are, for example, mail, version management and document management

3. The third CI type is Applications Each Service is provided by one or more applications i e software etc

4. The fourth CI type is Virtual Infrastructure In this CI, the company finds the virtualized environment 5. The fifth CI type is Physical Infrastructure Which includes the equipment that can actually be used 6. The sixth CI type is Fixed Infrastructure Which

contains the equipment that holds everything in place, such as server racks or buildings

As the level and associated examples describe, level 1 is considered the most critical since it affects the entire company, see the image below

Examples of level 1 CIs are servers, the email system and intranet infrastructure Payroll management falls below level 2 because it is a service that only affects administration if it fails Many CIs fall below level 1 or 2 of course, there can only be a single person who has problems with a virtual machine, so the grading of this can vary Should a virtual machine stop working, for example, for

everyone in development, it would be a level 1 CI We decided to have our CMDB in English, and then started to define relationships ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus had examples of relationships that were normally used in a CMDB These were saved, to then help us add any relationships that were considered missing in our deployment The relationships that were added were dependant on the CI types we defined

CI relations grouping

Relationships have been grouped based on primary, secondary and indirect relationships, as mentioned above Examples of primary relationships are, for example, logical dependencies that exist between the CI types of Services and Applications But also

• Operations

• Development

• Test

• Finance

• HR

Business Process

• Mail

• Document management

• Project management support

• Intranet

• Versioning Services

• Operation Systems

• ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus

• Hansoft

• SharePoint 2013 Applications

• Datastore

• Virtual Switch

• Virtual Machine

• Network

• Cluster

Virtual Infrastucture

• Network

• Tape Robot

• Backup Server

• SAN

• Printer

Physical Infrastucture

• Rack

• Room

• Chassi

Fixed Infrastucture

1 2 3 4 5 6

1 – Affect the business

3 – Affect a particular user 2 – Affect a group of people

1. The first CI type is Business Process By including the business processes, the business benefits are presented together with the IT system, the company therefore acquires a more comprehensive picture, instead of seeing the IT system as only a part of the company.

(15)

C M D B

depending on people based on who is the system owner for the service Technical dependencies exist to a great extent, a virtual server is always in a cluster (who is the system owner?)

Secondary relationships are also available Examples of secondary relationships are location, components, agreements and organizations Here the Fixed Infrastructure layer fits in quite well, in that it includes, among other things, the CI type “Room”

Indirect relationships exist in, for example, processes They describe which business processes have relationships to different services These business processes indirectly show which departments exist in the company After relationships were determined, it was time to populate with CI The population consisted mostly of enrolling all CIs and associated relationships Attributes were identified that were unique to each CI type While populating with CIs, a few new relationships were defined that were considered missing

This was for the CI types that were not included in the ServiceDesk Plus tool before the population started, where there were no relationships defined for, as an example, certain business process, so these had to be defined manually

What does it look like for the user?

ServiceDesk Plus made it easy to get an overview of all relationships that exist between different CIs In the image above you can see the closest relationships an operating technician has The portal has a request and three problems linked to it

If you choose to look more closely at the information about the Portal, it is possible to get a better overview of what is linked to it You can also see more information about each case that is linked The information about each CI can be very informative There are attributes that are specific to different CI types, this can be adapted to the individual CI type if desired

(16)

C M D B

It has been a few years now and we conducted a survey to measure the effects of the introduction of CMDB at Basalt.

Prerequisites

The department that uses CMDB daily works in the case management system ManageEngine Service- Desk Plus In this system, it is possible to work according to ITIL’s practices with most of the built-in tools The department has worked in ServiceDesk Plus for several years before its introduction, but it was very interesting to see what additional effects the introduction of CMDB had on other practices, such as incidents and changes

Survey Evaluation

The questionnaire was answered by operating technicians in the department who handle daily IT operations All technicians feel that the work has become more structured, that is, they link their incidents, changes and problems to an asset/CI This process is more automatic now, unlike before CMDB, where it was necessary to think about how the work would be performed and to which CI it would apply

They feel they have a better overall view of the IT environment, which makes it easier for them to specify the correct CI As the work has become

7. CMDB - 4 years after introduction

(17)

C M D B

more component-based, it has also become easier to plan service windows, since it is easier to see which components will be affected by the upcoming service window

All technicians considered that it was easier to carry out risk assessments and that it was easier to handle incidents The majority also considered that the time required for service work was reduced, but they could not describe the direct connection to CMDB in this case

Due to the fact that it was easier to locate problems, the operational work was easier than before They could not determine if CMDB gave the technicians better control over costs, however, they did clarif y they are not directly involved with budgets, which may be a reason why they did not experience this benefit

They feel that it has become easier to know which services and applications are related to each other and that it has become easier to maintain and meet current standards for the IT environment

They believe that CMDB supports them in everyday life and that work processes have evolved ever since, which is verified by case management statistics

No negative effects could be identified Above is a visualized image of CMDB from ServiceDesk Plus

(18)

C M D B

Data from ServiceDesk Plus

In terms of incidents, the number has decreased when compared between 2015 and 2018.

However, it is not possible to say this is exclusively due to CMDB Looking at the effects that CMDB was expected to contribute, this can be a mixture of the following effects being met: interruption frequency, source of information, traceability, component-based approach, risk assessment, derivative problems and work processes

By reducing the interrupt frequency, traceability increased, component-based working methods and better risk assessment have also made it easier to derive problems This is both proactive and reactive In 3 years, the number of incidents has decreased by 47%, which must be seen as a positive reduction In terms of changes, there is now a balance between ”created” and ”completed” This may indicate that the work process has partly changed since 2015, but also that efficiency has improved, and it is possi-

ble to work faster and more focused In other words, the rate of change has increased since 2015

Licensing costs have not increased over the years, but rather decreased After continuous inventories and updates in ServiceDesk Plus it became easier to keep track of which licenses were actually used and which ones could be terminated

It was easier to predict which licenses needed to be upgraded, which made it easier to budget costs and to have regular follow-up on it

0 30 60 90 120 150

CHANGES

2015 COMPARED TO 2018 INCIDENTS

2015 COMPARED TO 2018

105

67

138 126

Started 2015

Number Number

Completed 2015 Started 2018 Completed 2018 2015

495

1 036

2018

(19)

C M D B

Reflections from the IT Manager

As an IT manager, I can see that the productivity of the department has increased in recent years This is despite the fact that younger staff with less experience, and the more senior staff have pro- gressed in their careers Thanks to a case management system with built-in CMDB and connections between all functions, work in the department is more efficient Since it is possible to find a lot of information in the system, problems can be solved more independently

The rate of change has increased and the number of incidents has decreased, as the above graphs show, CMDB has been a strong contributing cause of this, as it has led to many effects being met Although the department does not work actively with CMDB on a daily basis, we benefit greatly from ServiceDesk Plus By connecting a CI to incident / change, or making a purchase and linking that to a service request, we connect all the necessary information and that benefits us on the day we need that information We do a lot without thinking about it, and it has become a routine, which makes it not feel like extra work You have to be open-minded and give it a try, and don’t give up too soon!

One effect that I, as the key stakeholder, saw in the department, is that as the pace of change increased, so did motivation and job satisfaction It has become a more close-working team, where everyone works according to the new processes As everyone works more consistently, we can see continuity in their work and it is easier to support each other

In summary, take some time today to give you a more efficient workday tomorrow!

Advice for those planning an introduction

• Carry out a thorough planning and set rea- sonable goals for yourself If you choose to go into a deeper level of detail, the work may feel too overwhelming, which increases the risk that it will not be completed

• Dare to start! The work may feel substantial and challenging, but start, and work your way forward The sooner you start, the sooner you finish

• Sit in groups, sketch by hand and identify which CI types are right for your company Be patient, take several shorter sessions rather than 1 long session – there is no need to stress!

• Have fun!

(20)

C M D B

ServiceDesk Plus from ManageEngine is a help desk solution with ITIL support for all types of organizations and needs.

With advanced ITSM features combined with user-friendliness, the ServiceDesk Plus support team helps deliver world-class service to businesses of all types The enterprise service management function allows you to create an instance for each function in the organization from the same installation

More than 100,000 organizations around the world use ServiceDesk Plus for their helpdesk and in the Nordic countries there is a loyal and growing customer base in both the private and public sectors Available both for local installation and as a cloud service

In our experience, CMDB is a subject that many people want practical advice and guidance on, we are happy to share this guide with you.

Please contact us if you have any thoughts on what you have read, or if you would like more guidance.

Inuit represents ManageEngine and its ITSM solution

”ServiceDesk Plus”, if you have any questions about practical applications of CMDB, you are welcome to talk to us

ServiceDesk Plus

Manage Engine We hope you liked

the guide!

ManageEngine simplifies IT management for organizations with their wide range of cost-effective and user-friendly solutions.

Organizations rely on ManageEngine products to manage their networks, data-centers, business applications, ITIL helpdesk, IT services and security ManageEngine is part of ZOHO Corporation Inuit represents ManageEngine in Nordics and provides customers and partners with help and support

(21)

C M D B

Inuit offers effective IT solutions that simplify your everyday life Inuit is a distributor and general agent specializing in IT products in IT administration and security The solutions span areas such as case management and ITIL help-desk, Active Directory and Identity Management, IT security, log management, client management, Mobile Device Management, network monitoring and data analysis

Our goal is for our solutions to help organizations achieve high security, increased business value and more satisfied users through efficient IT

This guide has been developed in collaboration with Linn Leneklint, IT Manager at Basalt Linn has previously written a candidate thesis on CMDB and has led the introduction of CMDB at Basalt

You reach Linn at linn leneklint@basalt se

Stay up-to-date by subscribing to our blog

Our knowledge hub is filled with over 100 guides, e-books, webinars, videos, etc for you who work with IT

inuit.se/blogg

inuit.se/kunskapshub linkedin.com/company/inuit

@inuitab

facebook.com/inuitab inuit.se

About Inuit Contributor

Inuit AB

Enebybergsvägen 10A 182 36 Danderyd Sweden

+46 8 753 05 10