What are the top 10 mistakes when building a CMDB

By ITIL® from Experience ©

Here are the top 10 errors made when starting a Configuration Management Database (CMDB).

Many organizations launch themselves into a CMDB implementation without a clear business goal simply because it is a fundamental enabler to ITIL® processes. Numerous organizations pour hours upon hours of sweat and effort trying to deliver the elusive benefits a rose-coloured vision of CMDB to eventually give up. Several could have been successful by starting on the right foot and avoiding the following mistakes.

1. Only relying on ITL® Foundation knowledge
   
   
2. Not reading the ITIL® Service Definition section 4.3 Service Assets and Configuration Management (page 89 in the 2011 Edition) - or- at least reading Chapter 7 on Configuration Management ITIL® version 2 (page 121).
   
   
3. Not using the Internet to find ITIL® Configuration Management lessons learned like the articles at www.ITILfromExperience.com
   
   
4. Failure to understand that building a Configuration Management Database simply to have a CMDB has no value since the real value of the CMDB is realized by making each process more effective.
   
   
5. Not understanding that the scope and the content of the CMDB must be determined by the information each ITIL® processes needs.
   
   
6. Loading data because it is simply available and that it can be loaded easily.
   
   
7. Not identifying an owner for every Configuration Item (CI) before it is loaded.
   
   
8. Not having a process to maintain data once loaded (see Why is the CMDB inaccurate).
   
   
9. Thinking that automation is the secret to a successful CMDB (see Should we automatically import auto-discovered CIs in the CMDB).
   
   
10. Thinking that automation is the silver bullet that will solve the CMDB problem and forgetting that the CMDB is not a technology project and that the process and people elements are key to its success (see How many Configuration Librarian(s) do we need).
    
    

And as a bonus:

• Forgetting to start with a strategy and plan (see We need a strategy and roadmap to implement a CMDB and We need a small-scale bite-size approach to populate the CMDB).

Published on: 2018-02-25

Related:

• Is there a book to help us prepare our CMDB project plan
• What are sample interview questions for a Configuration Management or CMDB consultant
• Should everyone be allowed to create CIs
• Which CIs to load first in the CMDB
• Is there a standard we can use for the CMDB structure

More on Configuration Management

From Around the Web:

• Are you implementing a CMDB or a Process? https://www3.pinkelephant.com/ressource/pinklink/PDF/Implementing-CMDB-Or-Process.pdf

Category: ITIL Process > Configuration Management

Disclaimer

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Copyright 2018 - ITIL® from Experience - D.Matte