ITIL CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT: Approaching Best Practices

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ITIL CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT: Approaching Best Practices.

So you have the honor of sorting out the approach to ITIL Configuration Management?  Lucky YOU!!  This is an exciting opportunity that can make such a huge difference for other ITIL Efforts.. Done well, Configuration Management can tell your stakeholders with easy referenceability, "What is running where, and Who owns it."..

Seems like a simple question, and yet, WHO is asking the question and WHAT they need to answer it, might be a little harder to get at.  Configuration Management takes a lesson in learning that we are more connected than most businesses might traditionally define, "Need to Know" basis.

WHAT do we need to manage? 
HOW do we need to structure the data, and WHAT key ITIL Process disciplines, might manage, measure and IMPROVE the quality of data for now, and the future?

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES TO CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT? 

1. KNOW THYSELF AND THY BUSINESS:  We know configuration management is at the heart of IT Change, what is the most logical starting scope of what is running where and who owns it? What are we trying to do now, and how does this effort support that aim?  
2. DEFINE SCOPE AND MILESTONES TO START:  When trying to improve the quality of information, it is important to start somewhere, and improve over time.  so picking the scope and milestones that will support your business and present business challenges should drive the scope and milestones decision.  IN ITIL best practices, sometimes the approach, particularly for configuration management is driven by the business, other times by technology or outsourcing, or consulting.     SOME levels of change communications approach activity can do a great job, in setting the stage for what must be completed, rather than trying to buy a project and then "implement ITIL" as a reason to justify.  This does not in any way mean to suggest that a Product can not DRIVE an ITIL practice, but it does mean that the ITIL Best Practices work regardless of approach, and whatever your approach, the desired and needed levels of change should be put before the decision to "do ITIL".
3. ROADMAP YOUR CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT PATH OF EXCELLENCE: What works for you for now, and Phase 2, and Phase 3, should be getting you closer to better service management, change management, problem and incident management, etc.  Each Phase being able to deliver clarity and a great story of improvement from BEFORE and AFTER the change, of WHAT is referenceable, and HOW it solves a key problem, and WHERE you are going to go next.  If we build our ITIL Configuration Practice with a logic that we start some where, Define, Measure, Manage, Improve and Control that data effectively, we will have a better configuration for change agility.  This translates into efficiencies for all of the ITIL disciplines, if you work on the logic that configuration management is at the heart of all change, and Service Management and Configuration management are part of a wheel of IT Service Delivery.

KNOWING THYSELF:  How do I begin?  The exercise of organizational instrospection on configuration management is improved by awareness and alignment on what the key points to be addresssed are kept in focus while we plan for what configuration management must do.  I found myself appreciating Hank Marquis approach: "Configuration Management for the Rest of Us".  Hank is EVP of Knowledge Management at Universal Solutions Group, and Founder and Director of NABSM.ORG

Planning - A SACM process begins with a plan. Your SACM plan needs to include:

• Purpose and scope of SACM
• A description of the CIs and services to which the SACM plan applies
• A time line showing important SACM activities completion
• A description of current and expected SACM tools (e.g., what you have and expect to find)
• Related documentation such as existing SACM plans or plans from suppliers
• A listing of relevant documents and their interrelationships
• Policies describing SACM management activities
• The organization, responsibilities and authorities of relevant interested parties
• Qualifications and training of staff to support SACM
• Criteria for the selection of CIs
• Frequency, distribution, and control of reports

Identification - The selection and identification of CIs and their relationships. Identification includes assigning unique identifiers and version numbers to CIs, applying labels to CIs as appropriate, and entering the CI into the appropriate databank. For service-level CIs, the selection of resource-level CIs and the descriptions of their interrelationships should describe the services' structure. Good selection and identification criteria include:

• Regulatory requirements
• Criticality in terms of risks and safety
• New or modified technology
• Interfaces with other CIs
• Procurement conditions
• Support and service considerations

Control - Procedures that ensure no change to any CI without controlling documentation such as an updated service or product specification, or a RFC. In your SACM plan, define how you will accurately update CMDB records. Include:

• Management authorizations and relationships of those in authority
• Procedures for control of changes to CI records within the CMDB
• Methods to communicate changes from physical CIs to their CMDB records

Status Accounting - Reporting on changes to CIs throughout their lifecycle. Include methods to track CIs from ordering to depreciation. Unlike Control, Status Accounting seeks to maintain a historical record for the CI. This includes baselines, linked Incident, Problems, Known Errors, etc.

• Methods for collecting, recording, processing and maintaining status accounting records
• Definition of the content and format for all configuration status accounting reports

Verification and audit - A series of reviews to verify the presence and configuration of CIs with their respective records within the CMDB. Include in the plan:

• A list of audits planned
• Procedures to be used
• Authorizations required (within and without IT)
• Description of report and expected contents
• Configuration care and feeding

CASE STUDY FROM EXPERIENCE:

We approached using an ITIL/ SIX SIGMA. We thought we had systems for tracking configurations, in fact we had 20 - 30 some references of systems, processes, and people, should be simple right? In KNOWING ourself, we came to realize that while we did have many systems, what we needed was to emerge a system that managed and delivered results to reduce complexity and save money.. We started with a DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve Control) to a DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, and Verify) Results. 

We found the key to working Configuration Management, was to mature our organization's Change Management Process so that the quality of configuration data was managed at the source of change. So we presented our operational practice had "Configuration Management at the center using the CI detail that also supported the Service Level Management Reporting Metrics.  All services configuration items were classified by business impact and analyzed for optimization activity that supported Financial and Capacity Management. 

We will offer overviews of the concepts, and perhaps blog more on application, with your involvement, expand our possibilities. If you have ideas, let us know.

Dawn C Khan: ~ about.me | twitter | linkedin |