A Configuration Management Database (CMDB) allows manage Configuration Items (CIs) including identifying, gathering, recording, maintaining, controling and reporting. CMDB collects and stores the following items as configuration records:

  • IT services and their individual components required for service delivery as Configuration Items; 
  • CI Types such as an IT Service or with other custom values determining CI business logic and the set of various attributes;
  • Relationships between CIs with their general and specific aspects describing types and interraction mechanism as CI Relationships.

To indentify your CI in your SimpleOne solution, use the CMDB features and follow the steps below:

  1. Define type of the IT service component that is considered as CI an determine it within the CI Types list;
  2. Specify CI constituent attributes with accurate and reliable information filling in the Configuration Item form;
  3. Describe and establishing relationships with other CIs by adding CI Relationships records.

The Service Model describes composition of CIs and relationships between them in a graphical view and clearly shows CIs current statuses. 

Configuration Type

It may be either an IT Service or IT System, Server, Database, Data storage, Cluster Node, Cluster.

IT Services are considered as Configuration Items in the SimpleOne solution. 

Type defines CI form, fields and related lists.

Configuration Item

Configuration records, then, are just records about attributes (like name, location, version number, etc.) and relationships of your CIs. Basically, they are records that describe your CIs.

A Configuration Item (or CI) is simply any component that needs to be managed in order to deliver an IT service. A server, a virtual server, or even the configuration of an application could be considered a CI, for example.

CI can be an IT Service or another type.

To add a New Configuration Item, navigate to the CMDB → Configuration Items menu and push the New button. Fill in the form with the following fields:

Field

Description

Number

Automatically assigned to a record when having been created.

Name

A name of a Configuration Item.

CI Type

Select your CI type from the list specifying it as an IT Service or as an other type. Depending on this field value 

Description

Contains all necessary information details.

Service Owner

Define a person from the Users list.

State

Select one of two possible values:

  • Active;

  • Inactive.

Operational State

Determines an IT Service availability with the following possible statuses:

  • Available;

  • Degradated;

  • Unavailable;

  • Maintenance.

CI Item = IT Service

Service Type

Desribes a type of a delivered Service.

Select one of the following values in a drop-down list to fill in the field:

  • Business - IT Service is provided from Service supplier to customer;

  • Operational - one of the company's departments delivers IT Service as a provider;

  • Underpinning - an IT Service is delivered to a Service provider by the third party;

  • Request - IT Service is provided on request.

Master Service

Specifies a primary IT Service if necessary.

Assign a Master Service choosing it from the list of the CI Items with the IT Service type value.

Service Specification

Defines internal and external articles described in the Knowledge Base, e.g., SLA records, Service Description, and other articles related to the IT Service. 

Business Criticality

Specifies an IT Service cruciality to a business with one of two values:

  • High;

  • Low.

CI Item = ...

Serial Number

Automatically assigned to a record when having been created.

Name

A name of a Configuration Item.

Primary IT Service

Specify a provided IT Service choosing it from the list of the CI Items with the IT Service type value.

Serial Number

Enter a serial number of your configuration component if it has one.

IP Adress

Enter the PI number of your configuration device if it has one.

DNS

Enter the DNS adress of your CI if it has one.

Location

Confirm the CI location

Related Lists:

  • External Service Specification - ;
  • Internal Service Specification - ;
  • Outgoing CMDB Relationship - ;
  • Incoming CMDB Relationship - ;
  • Child Service - ;
  • Related CI - ;
  • ITSM Event - ;
  • Incident - ;
  • Problem - ;
  • Change Request - ;
  • Request - ;
  • Approval - .

CI Relationships

CI Relationships binds two CIs. It can be established from a source CI to a recipient CI in one or both directions.

relationship direction;


Bilateral relation and direction;


COnditional/unconditional relationship;


Relationship weight depending on the incoming relationships to a recipient CI.


CMDB → CI Relationships...

Add, establish

Field

Description

Source CI


Recipient CI


Bilateral Relation


Operational Status Transfer Type

Choose one of the possible values describing the type of operational influence (impact):

  • Conditional - a  ;
  • Inconditional - a source CI exerts an influence to a recipient CI regardless of the conditions.

Relationship Weight


Weight on change



Service Resource Model

Watch the model and relationships. CI Types are represented with level of the hierarchical model structure, CIs are model nodes connected with the CI Relationships as edges.