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An ITIL configuration item (CI) is a basic building block for your Configuration Management Database (CMDB). And your ITIL CMDB is a critical element of your IT management toolkit. So, it makes sense to take a closer look at what CIs are and why they are so important to effective IT Management.
Functions of a CI in configuration management
Many may think that a configuration item is simply what its name seems to imply – an item of information about the configuration of an element of your IT estate. And some CIs are just that.
But for maximum value to your IT management efforts and your business, CIs can and should also be much more.
The widely adopted ITIL best practice guidelines for IT management says a configuration item can be almost any information about almost any component of your IT environment. Examples include but are not limited to the following:
- Product documentation
- Relevant associated people and their specific responsibilities
- Support contacts and responsibilities
- Ownership and maintenance responsibilities
- Costs and contract details
- Connections to and interdependencies with other IT components, applications, and users
Why configuration items matter in CMDB
The broad range of information CIs can contain is at the heart of the value they can deliver, to your IT management efforts and your business as a whole. The more accurate, comprehensive, and up-to-date information you have about your IT estate, the more control you can exert over it.
That information can help speed diagnosis and resolution of incidents and problems. It can help you and your team take steps to avoid those incidents and problems. It can even help you maximize returns on your business’ IT investments.
To deliver these benefits, every configuration item in your environment must be clearly defined and kept accurate and current. To achieve this goal, your CIs must be stored in a CMDB that is powerful, flexible, and able to communicate with every critical IT resource in your estate.
Your configuration management database must also support automated updates to all of your CIs, on schedule and on-demand. The CMDB must be able to turn CI content into clear and actionable reports for every constituency involved in or affected by the management of your IT estate.
(See “What does CMDB stand for?”)
The value and functionality of your ITIL CMDB are largely powered by the content of the CIs it contains. By focusing on building and maintaining the best CIs you can, you and your team can maximize that value and functionality, in ways that strengthen your IT management and your business.
Virima: Your partner for unmatched IT management
Virima can help you capture and manage the CIs that maximize the value of your CMDB to IT and your business. Virima offers solutions for IT Asset Management (ITAM), IT Service Management (ITSM), and IT Operations Management (ITOM).
Those solutions can automatically discover and map your critical IT resources and the interconnections that link them, your applications and services, and your users.
Virima ensures you can communicate with and manage all critical elements of your IT estate, wherever they reside.
Get started with a demo and explore the possibilities!
