A Configuration Management Database (CMDB), is a database that contains all relevant information about the hardware and software components used in the organization’s IT services and the relationships between those components. The fundamental unit in a CMDB is a Configuration Item (CI). The CMDB used at WashU is the ServiceNow CMDB.
This project seeks to assess and remediate major impacts to the ServiceNow CMDB performance and health to avoid compounding existing problems into the larger asset solution and to avoid a larger remediation effort later.
The CMDB, which is the foundation of Asset Management, has been in effect for several years but is not functioning up to expectations. It was put into place with very little customization and without tuning to business needs. The shortfalls of the CMDB affect WashU IT technical operations, which rely on good data in the CMDB to perform operational tasks. Additionally, stakeholders have a negative perception of the CMDB due to lack of confidence in the quality of the data. Thus, stakeholders are reluctant to use the CMDB as a source of truth and are unable to rely on it to make good decisions and run efficient IT Processes. Moreover, the Asset Management program needs a strong CMDB to build on for the additional layers of financial, compliance, and associated lifecycle tasks. These functions need a CMDB that is accurate and complete.
This project will help to reduce ‘noise’ in the CMDB which results in poor performance, a lack of confidence in the data contained within the CMDB, and the inability to properly manage assets throughout their lifecycle. Without this foundation it will be difficult to manage risks associated with assets.