The need for a configuration management database

The configuration management database is a repository that has information related to all the IT activities. In the information systems component’s information are stored in the configuration management database. The configuration management database terms comes from the IT Infrastructure Library which stands for ITIL. There best practices that are followed in the configuration management database based on the ITIL.

In any configuration management there are certain tasks that are considered important. One is the identification of the items that are to be added to the configuration management database. These items are to be identified properly and then added to it so that they can be retrieved when necessary. Identifying the configurable items and then added to the configuration management database can be automated.

The level of automation done on this task is the key to the success of the configuration management database. The configurable items can be given importance based on the ownership, the relationship, and the technical features of that item. Based on this you can segregate the configurable items. The other is to authorize only certain people to add data to the repository. For this proper authorization is needed. Then only you can control the data that are added to the repository.

Maintaining the status of the configuration items called the CIs’ are necessary. It should be regularly updated to have the latest information. Otherwise there is no purpose in having a configuration management database. Although you can authorize certain users to add data to the repository, it is necessary to verify it by a team of audit personnel to further ensure that the data added by that authorized person is valid and accurate. Periodical audits are necessary for this. Form an audit team that can perform periodical audits on the configuration management database.