One of the main components of an ITIL ( Information Technology Infrastructure Library) configuration management process is the Configuration Management Database (CMDB).

A CMDB is a database that contains all the pertinent information about an organization’s technology components (called configuration items, or CIs) such as network equipment, computers, servers and peripherals and the relationships among those components. A CMDB gives enterprises an organized view as to how the various components interact to deliver applications and services for their customers. A CMDB can only be implemented in parallel with an effective Configuration Management Process. That means all data related to core IT operations must be appropriately stored and managed in order to ensure the integrity, validity, and accuracy of the configuration management data.

Here are five benefits of implementing a CMDB:

1. Breaks down the barriers between IT and the business—A CMDB removes IT silos and helps people, processes and technologies work more efficiently together. That’s because knowing what technology components you have, where they are and how they’re connected will let you better manage and improve your IT services.

2. Provides more proactive management—A CMDB allows organizations to better manage change in their IT environments. As the complexity of a organization’s IT infrastructure increases, a central database containing information about all the CIs and how they work together will help you avoid downtime by more efficiently planning and better appreciating how those changes affect the IT environment.

3. Helps better assess risk, improve security—IT organizations can use CMDB data to assess the risks to the business associated with known vulnerabilities on servers. That means your IT team can prioritize patches and secure the most critical vulnerabilities first.

4. Helps keep track of any changes in software—Data from the CMDB lets organizations know if there is any unauthorized or illegal software being used.

5. Makes compliance easier, more accurate—Using CMDB data, IT organizations can make sure that the information about their assets is accurate and up to date in order to comply with such initiatives as Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA. By keeping a close eye on CIs and their relationships and continually monitoring them to make sure they’re accurate, your IT organization can better ensure that your systems and their components comply with legislative mandates.

If you want your business to be successful it’s imperative to install the best IT service management software, or help desk ticketing software, for your needs so you can keep your website running smoothly, manage your inventory and manage/track customer problems from start to finish.
Sounds easy enough, right? But with all the products on the market, how can you be sure you’re getting your money’s worth?

First, because IT service management software can be used for logging in tickets as well as high-end CRM systems, you have to clearly define your company’s needs. Typically, small businesses don’t need the most complicated and expensive products. On the other hand, the most basic software might not have all the features you need to operate your help desk effectively. After you determine your needs, you should set your company’s goals and then establish a list of requirements that the IT service management software must meet.

To help you determine which vendors offer the software to meet your company’s needs, you should ask people in companies similar to yours what works for them and what doesn’t work. You should ask what level of support the vendors offer and how good the vendors’ training programs are. Find out if the training is provided in your location or the vendor’s location.

And you should make sure there’s sufficient product documentation, or other self-service capabilities, so you can save money by not constantly relying on assistance from the vendor. However, you should also ensure that your software provider has a 24-hour toll-free hotline so you can get the assistance you need when you need it.

In addition, select a system that is quick and easy to install and deploy. It should also include an installation wizard to guide you through each step of the set-up process. And the software should be user-friendly.

It’s important to select software that you can customize for your specific business needs and that also gives your employees access to customize it and/or make changes. You don’t want to have to pay the vendor to customize the software for you. When you’re doing your research, also check to see if the vendor will charge extra for licensing, maintenance, implementation and training.

Finally, ask the vendors if their products have reporting systems built-in to them so you can analyze the information in order to develop more effective and efficient processes.

While this is a good definition for someone who understands the vernacular of ITIL, it isn’t easily understood by the layman. Let’s dissect the definition and put it into terms the general population can understand. The IT Service provider is the organization that has been hired by the Customer to perform a service, for example, answer calls. The service level agreement is the document, which can be a few brief lines or it can be a hundreds of pages, which describes each service level target(s). These service targets are based on the customers business needs. For example, if Large Corp. sells their products worldwide, they may have a need to have a call center that is available 24×7. This one business objective, call center available 24×7, could produce multiple service level targets such as:

Call Center is available to take calls 99.99% of the time each month.

No more than 5% of calls will abandon each month.

99% of all incoming calls must be answered within 30 seconds.

All of the service level targets must be agreed upon by both parties. Once both parties agree to all of the service level targets, they are assembled into the Service Level Agreement document. The service level targets will each have a description that identifies the expectation, how it will be measured and penalties, if missed. For example:

Call center must answer all incoming calls within 30 seconds

Measurement period: 1 month

Report(s): ASA Report 101 – monthly

Penalty: $10,000

The SLA is a joint goal between the IT Service Provider and the Customer. Although penalties do reduce costs and they do send a strong signal to service providers to improve their service, neither you nor the service provider “win” if an SLA is missed. Think of an SLA as a shared goal.

It should be noted that the term Service Level Agreement is used in many companies when discussing agreements between two internal groups, such as the Procurement Department will process all purchase requests by the Engineering Department within 5 business days. Technically, per ITIL, this is not a Service Level Agreement, but instead an Operational Level Agreement.