【正文】 les and Responsibilities................................................................................... 27 iv C onfiguration Management Configuration Manager .......................................................................................27 Configuration Management Staff.........................................................................27 Relationship to Other SMFs ................................................................................. 29 Appendix: Remended Technologies............................................................. 31 1 Executive Summary Configuration management is a critical process responsible for identifying, controlling, and tracking all versions of hardware, software, documentation, processes, procedures, and all other inanimate ponents of the information technology (IT) anization. The goal of configuration management is to ensure that only authorized ponents are used in the IT environment and that all changes are recorded and tracked. This document discusses the main processes and activities involved in configuration management, and includes the setup activities that must be performed before configuration management can be conducted. The importance of the Configuration Management service management function (SMF) lies in the ways in which it relates to other SMFs in the Microsoft174。s name, description, and location to technically detailed configuration settings and options. Configuration management database (CMDB). A database that contains all relevant details of each configuration item (CI) and details of the important relationships between CIs. The database can include ID code, copy and serial number, category, status, version, model, location, responsibility, or historical information about the item. The level of detail contained in this database depends either on the aims or on the degree to which information is to be available. Configuration manager. The role that is responsible for managing the activities of the configuration management process for the IT anization. The role also selects, assigns responsibilities to, and trains the configuration management staff. 4 Processes and Activities This chapter provides a detailed discussion of the processes and activities that occur in the Configuration Management SMF. Process Flow Summary Configuration management is graphically represented in the form of a process flow diagram (Figure 1) that identifies the activities needed to successfully manage and control key ponents of an IT infrastructure. Figure 1. Configuration management process flow This highlevel overview can be further broken down into a number of detailed activities and process flows, which are summarized below. Together these detailed activities and process flows provide a prehensive blueprint for the configuration management process. 8 C onfiguration Management Establish Configuration Items Assuming the need to track and control changes to an IT ponent, the process of adding an item to the CMDB involves first deciding upon the appropriate level of detail necessary to track and control change. Next, configuration items (CIs) are created in the database to permit management of ponents at this level. One of the key benefits configuration management provides, in addition to asset management, is the modeling of relationships between IT ponents. These relationships need to be identified and connections built between configuration items in order to model the realworld situation. For example, a workstation is made up of a desktop puter, operating system, and applications, and the workstation is connected to and uses the work. The proper understanding and documentation of relationships between IT ponents makes it possible to perform detailed impact analysis on a proposed change. Access Configuration Items After information about IT ponents and relationships has been added to the CMDB, it can then be used by other SMFs. Change management, for example, uses the relationships defined within the CMDB to determine the impact of a change on other ponents within the IT environment. Problem management uses the CMDB as a resource to identify which CIs are the root cause of incidents, and so on. Change Configuration Items As release management begins to make changes to IT ponents, corresponding changes must be made to the CMDB. Without accurate and uptodate information, the value of configuration management is lost. Wherever possible, this process should be done automatically. The amount of information and the frequency of change make manual data entry impractical for all but the smallest anizations. Review Configuration Items The accuracy of the information stored in the CMDB is crucial to the success of the Change Management and Incident Management SMFs, as well as other service management functions. A review process that ensures that the database accurately reflects the production IT environment needs to be established. Note A more fundamental review should also be carried out at periodic intervals to establish whether the information in the CMDB is relevant to the business and is being managed at the correct level of detail. Setup Activities Prior to initiating the configuration management process flow activities described above, a number of detailed setup and planning activities must be pleted in order to use configuration management effectively. Service Management Function 9 The following process flow identifies these activities and the sequence in which they should be performed. Figure 2. Setup activities for configuration management Onetime configuration management setup activities necessarily precede the daily, ongoing configuration management process and involve a great deal of decision making and planning. Setup activities begin with decidin