Configuration
Management Tutorial
Configuration
management tutorials generally focus on Software Configuration
Management, but more and more we see organizations moving away from
this limiting approach, toward a more holistic view of configuration
items.
That is the way that
ITIL sees it. Not only software lifecycle but also Configuration
Management should be used to manage the hardware lifecycle as
well.
Configuration
management tutorial - real advice on
Scope
Well the best piece of
advice I can give goes in two directions – the first is towards scope, that is decide very
early what is going to be included within scope and what will be out
of scope.
As an example all
communications equipment may be in scope. The reason this is
important is that Configuration management can quickly become more
of a cost than a benefit if it is not designed well from the
start.
Configuration
Management covers the identification, recording, and reporting of IT
components, including their versions, constituent components and
relationships. Items that should be under the control of
Configuration Management include hardware, software and associated
documentation.
Configuration
management tutorial - real advice on
Depth
The second direction
is Depth – that is
Configuration Items (CI’s) have relationships, parent/child as an
example. This means that we – through Configuration management - are
really trying to understand how each CI relates to every other CI in
the organization. An example parent child relationship is that the
Standard Operating environment is (can be) a child CI of the parent
PC.
Why is this important?
Because I can go to any depth I wish, that is, to any level I deem
necessary. The important question to ask is – “Do I wish to manage
this at this depth?” i.e. down to the stick of
Ram?
If the answer is no
this level of subcomponent may be regarded as attributes rather than
CI.
The critical thing
here is it is very easy to micromanage what you do not
need to which inevitably will equate to unnecessary
cost!
Keep the level high
with the flexibility to go deeper if you need to.
THE ASSET MANAGEMENT TOOLKIT
Each
item included is of the highest quality, tailor made to cover a
different aspect and issue. It includes presentations,
questionnaires, guidelines, fact sheets.... and whole gamut of
material specifically put together to both introduce and take you
through Asset Management.
It comprises the
following components (click
here)
