More Related Content Similar to CMDB as a Corporate Asset (20) CMDB as a Corporate Asset1. Transforming the CMDB into
a Corporate Asset
Abbas Haider Ali, VP Product Strategy
October 2nd 2008
managedobjects.com
TM
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved. The Business Service Management Company
2. Agenda
Introduction
CMDB 101
β What is a CMDB (v2 and v3)
β D I really need a CMDB? Wh tβ i it f me?
Do ll d Whatβs in for ?
β How to spot a real CMDB vs. a knock-off
Planning for a CMDB
β Strategy
β People
β Data
β Process
β Adoption
β Where other CMDB projects have failed
Monolithic vs. Distributed CMDBs
Practical guide to implementing a CMDB
Use cases and ROI realized
Discussion topics
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
3. Introduction β Who is this Abbas guy?
Pronounced Hay-der A-lee. Common errors: Hater-All, Hi-deer A-lie,
Hader-all, or of course the popular, Ha-<mumble>
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
4. What is a CMDB ?
β ITIL v2: βA database that contains all relevant details of each CI and details
of the important relationships between CIs.β
β ITIL v3: βA database used to store Configuration Records throughout their
Lifecycle. The Configuration Management System maintains one or more
CMDBs, and each CMDB stores Attributes of CIs, and Relationships with
other CIs.β
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
5. Seriouslyβ¦. What is a CMDB?
It depends...
Source of truth
Encyclopedia for IT, and services it offers
DNA map of IT environment
Decision support tool
Self-service application for IT knowledge
β¦.
Use
U case(s)
( )
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
6. Do I really need a CMDB?
How up-do-date are the Visio diagrams on your walls?
How many p p are involved in SWAT meetings for P1 issues?
y people g
Do many of your planned changes result have unexpected
impacts?
How well do you know the relationships between IT infrastructure
elements and IT / Business services
Do you spend a lot of time generating reports from different
systems and stitching them together?
How effectively can you verify that IT services meet
design/regulatory standards? e.g. DR, license usage ratios, etc.
Are you concerned about impact of rapidly changing technology
in your environment? Virtualization, Green IT, <insert buzzword
here>
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
7. How to spot a knock-off CMDB
Requires a homogenous environment for integration
β Vendor lock-in anyone?
y
Configuration management system by day, CMDB by night
β Not an unusual claim from element configuration management systems
Only supports Extract Transform Load to populate a CMDB
Extract-Transform-Load
β Someone quickly inherits data entry as a 2nd job
Inflexible schema
β Donβt get talked out of having information you need in your CMDB β Itβs
Don t It s
your asset!
Limited Federation capabilities
β Data sources WILL evolve over time; CMDB must be able to do the same
Belief that the CMDB is just a big database
β Itβs not. Itβs an application.
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
8. Poll & Discussion
Who has an operational CMDB (even if you donβt call it that) ?
Are you happy with your CMDB? Why?
Whoβs looking at a CMDB right now? Why?
What is the root of your CMDB?
β Service Desk?
β Asset / Inventory?
β Discovery?
β Application dependency mapping?
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
9. Planning for a CMDB β Strategy
Have a clearly defined objective
β No definition = No recognizable value
β Select specific metrics wherever possible
Prioritize services for initial phase
β Donβt try to tackle everything at once
Identify t k h ld
Id tif stakeholders / scope of users of CMDB
f f
Keep an eye on what you want to CMDB to support in the future
β Service oriented monitoring
β Service Catalog
β Automated impact analysis
Examples (good and bad):
β Minimize impact of changes to top 5 business apps
β Merge asset management, application discovery data into single database
β Reduce MTTR by capturing multi-system and tribal knowledge into broadly
accessible application
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
10. Planning for a CMDB β People
Project team / Owners
β Executive sponsor
β Project manager / Product manager
β Relationship manager
β CMDB admin
β’ Not a DBA More like an application architect
DBA. architect.
Data providers / Contributors
β Select just enough data to meet the requirements
β Choose SMEs who know both front and back end of selected data sources
Users / Consumers
β Identify the parties who MUST be able to use the CMDB for
strategy/objectives to become reality
β Clearly note the backgrounds, skills, time available, etc. for user community
β’ Critical to selecting a CMDB interface
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
11. Planning for a CMDB - Data
Keep objectives in mind and select minimum amount of data for
persistence in CMDB, rest should be federated
Build CI and CI attributes layout
β Physical configuration Internet Customer
β Location Ordering System
β OS version and patches
β Next planned change Take Orders
Product
Availability
β Trouble tickets
Build CI relationship layout
Create an Credit Card
β Physical Verify Credit
Account Processing
β Logical
β Business services and processes
Identify requirements for CI state
β Performance availability, β¦
Performance, availability
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
12. Planning for a CMDB - Data
Governance
β Reconciliation rules
β Which relationships should be prioritized
Use layouts to identify data sources
Test integrations early
Record currency information for each source
β How frequently is this data updated?
Identify gaps
β Need discovery, or is asset database complete?
β Application dependency mapping?
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
13. Planning for a CMDB - Process
Review objectives and identify processes that benefit from interaction
with CMDB
Incident Mgmt Availability
Service Problem Mgmt CMDB Service Level Mgmt
Service
Support Change Mgmt Capacity Mgmt
Delivery
Release M t
R l Mgmt Continuity Mgmt
C ti it M t
Configuration Mgmt Financial Mgmt
For CMDB value to be recognized, existing processes have to change
β Deployment of new apps/services
β Analysis of scheduled changes
β Usage / configuration of monitoring systems
CMDB itself should be subject to a review process on a regular basis
Donβt let process become a barrier to getting started
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
14. Planning for a CMDB β Adoption
Most challenging, and most overlooked part of most CMDB
projects
How is the casual CMDB user going to interact with it?
β Avoid software installation as much as possible
Allow everyone to contribute
β Comments, point out errors, inconsistencies, missing information
β Mechanical Turk model
Identify mavens in each community of CMDB users
Examine company culture, risk, regulatory issues and select
editing model for CMDB
β Wikipedia like or strict governance/process
Wikipedia-like
Record all successes and share with CMDB user community
β Start a blog or newsletter
β S
Success b d success
breeds
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
15. Planning for a CMDB β Why CMDB Projects Fail
Not uncommon to hear about 2nd or even 3rd attempts at CMDB
No clear objective
j
β Field of CIs approach: βIf we build it, they will comeβ
Too broad, too deep, or both
Poorly defined roles and responsibilities
Bad data
Inaccessible β only a handful of people know how to use it
Doesnβt stay current
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
16. Monolithic vs. Distributed CMDBs
Always tempting to grab all data from integrated data sources and
store them in a giant database, just in case
β Far more susceptible to problems as underlying systems change or get
replaced
β Much higher cost to architect, store, and operate
β Inflexible and hard to adapt to changing environment
If CMDB usage become pervasive, expect an ecosystem to
develop
Master
CMS CMDB
Server Network
CMDB Team Team
CA HP Service Asset EMC HP Service Asset
Data Sources MOM
Unicenter Desk Mgmt Smarts
Alterpoint
Desk Mgmt
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
17. Monolithic vs. Distributed CMDBs
Specialized CMDBs can be used by individual IT silos, business
units, application teams
Top level CMS can unify key information in support of a larger
CMDB strategy
Federation shouldnβt be limited to traditional CMDB data sources
β must be able to link to other CMDBs
β’ Need to consider multi-vendor federation between different CMDBs
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
18. Practical Guide β Selecting a CMDB
Well executed planning stage should result in a clear list of must-
have features
Federation
Synchronization
Reconciliation
Vi
Visualization / E
li ti Ease of U
f Use
Interoperability
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
19. Selecting a CMDB β Detailed Features
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
20. Practical Guide β Selecting a Partner
Donβt reinvent the wheel
Review experience
p
β Should have worked with CMDB software and integration points as well
Ask for references
In most cases CMDB vendors have services business
Usual suspects in systems integrator space
β IBM
β Accenture
A t
β CSC
β β¦
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
21. Partner Example β Managed Objects
Target Audience
Strategy and Planning Objectives
Measures for Success
Identify Services
Specify Requirements CMDB High Level Design
CMDB Depth
CMDB Technology
Select Technologies Automating Technology
Build
Construction and Train
Deployment Document & Turnover
ocu e t u o e
Communicate Value
Ongoing Value / Improvement Plan
Improvement managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
22. Partner Example β Managed Objects
Define Benefits
Strategy/
Planning
Create General CMDB Vision CMDB
Project Kickoff Counsel Team Definition
and Measures
Workshop
of Success
Requirements
s
Specify
Define Define Service Define CI levels Design IT
High Level Define CI Define CI
Governance Catalog IT Service Service Model
CMDB Design Relationships Attributes
Requirements Requirements Model Blueprint
Technologies
Select
Select
Select
Select CMDB
Technology for Technology for
Technology
Population Auditing
Training for
Install CMDB
CMDB
uction and
Technology
Technology
loyment
Constru
Depl
Create CI
Construct Populate Automate Train the CMDB Documentation Production
Lifecycle Mgmt
The CMDB CMDB The CMDB CM team Transfer Ready CMDB
Process
nt
Ongoing Value
Improvemen
Implement Continuous Construction Documentation
Svc Improvement Specify
Measures and of CMDB Test Transfer &
Plan Requirements
Metrics Modifications User Training
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
23. Case Study of Financial Services - Overview
Challenges
β Identify and resolve problems faster
y p
β Complex problems, cross domains β hard to get to root cause
β Poor communication with the business units
Data sources identified for CMDB project
β Combination of commercial management tools and 15+ internal databases
CMDB vital statistics
β Greater than 2 million CIs
β More than 4 million CI relationships
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
24. Case Study of Financial Services - Benefits
Express dependencies quickly and clearly β for Outages, Break Fix
Activities, Maintenance
β e.g. list all hosts for a telco switch, all users for a SAN
Maintenance Interactions
β e.g. identify common components between a SAN upgrade and a Switch upgrade.
Avoid un-expected interactions during multiple changes.
Diversity and Bucketing
β o e.g. take a business flow and prove that their A and B side are diverse and have
no single points of failure.
Concentration Risk
β e.g. report on number of critical apps that are dependent on server X or Y.
Infrastructure Domain Failures
β e.g. Construct and test theories around processes geography
Identify d di t d
Id tif dedicated servers that have cross-BU d
th t h BU dependencies
d i
Enable targeted infrastructure refresh
β e.g. identify non-standard versions of infrastructure and order by number and
criticality of systems dependent on them Provide information to help manage risk
them.
around upgrade plans.
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
25. Case Study of Insurance Carrier β Overview
Challenges
β Better understand planned and unplanned changes
p p g
β Enforce process adherence
β Changes frequently had unintended consequences; required multiple
attempts to complete
β 60% of incidents resulted from planned changes
Data sources identified for project
β Discovery solution (g
y (general and server specific)
p )
β Internally developed asset management system
β Service desk
CMDB vital statistics
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
26. Case Study of Insurance Carrier β Benefits
Real-time visibility to planned and unplanned changes
Clearly understand impact of proposed changes
y p p p g
Lower risk β fewer outages
Superior, always current documentation
Reduced MTTR
Much lower % of incidents with planned changes as root cause
Availability of additional statistics to drive analytics for IT
executive reporting
ti ti
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
27. Measuring ROI
Refer back to the original metrics identified during planning
β MTTR reduction / shorter outages g
β Mean Time Between Outages (MTBO) increase
β Increase in successful change tickets
β Less total tickets
β Shorter maintenance windows
β Increased availability for critical services
β Reduction in software licenses
β Cost reductions from increased DC density or server consolidation
Softer metrics also count
β Process improvement
β Increased productivity
β Shift from reactive to proactive operations
β’ Strategic projects vs. fixing broken things
vs
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
28. CMDB Project Teamβs Work is Never Done
Operational
Efficiency
Services
Users
Business
Effectiveness
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
29. Q&A
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
30. Additional Resources
CIO.com: Managed Objects Adds 'Facebook' Twist to CMDB
ITSMWatch.com: 10 Tips for a Successful CMDB Project
p j
GRIDtoday: Virtual Management, Virtual Mess
Data Center Journal: Myths of the CMDB
Computerworld: How Much Is 'Just Enough for a CMDB?
Just Enough'
Managed Objects Blog - BSM Communique
managedobjects.com
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved.
31. Transforming the CMDB into
a Corporate Asset
Abbas Haider Ali, VP Product Strategy
October 2nd 2008
managedobjects.com
TM
Β©2008 Managed Objects, Inc. All rights reserved. The Business Service Management Company