An Introduction to CCMDB
Configuration management is defined as the process of
managing change in the IT components and services of an IT system while
minimizing errors and disruption to the system. The aforementioned IT
components are often referred to as Configuration items, or CIs. A CI is
defined as any IT infrastructure component or any item related to the
infrastructure (e.g. hardware, software, services, documentation, RFCs,
procedures, etc.) which as organization wishes to track using configuration
management. The CCMDB is the underlying database used to support configuration
management functions. The term CCMDB is also used to refer to the logical functional
component of the overall ISM application which deals with configuration
management.
ISM, or IBM Service Management (formerly Maximo), refers
to a web-based application that is used to perform various IT service
management functions, one of which is configuration management. ISM can be
thought of as an “umbrella” application which contains major functional
components such as CCMDB (for configuration management), TSRM (for incident,
problem, and change), Asset Management, and Software License Management, among
others.
The majority of CCMDB functions revolve around the
creation and manipulation of CIs. CIs can be physical devices, such as computer
systems and network devices, or they can be software systems such as business
applications or web servers. A CI can even represent higher level, abstract
concepts like a “business service,” which is a collection of business
applications in support of a service. These different “types” of CIs are
referred to in ISM parlance as CI classifications. Regardless of
classification, ISM provides a platform on which all CIs may be manipulated in
a consistent way, while allowing the flexibility to define distinct CI
characteristics where necessary.