Trends Report

Reinvent The Obsolete But Necessary CMDB

The CMDB Is Flawed, But A SIS Will Prove Priceless To Service Management

December 6th, 2011
Glenn O'Donnell, VP, Research Director
Glenn O'Donnell VP, Research Director
With contributors:
Doug Washburn , Kelley Mak

Summary

The once-promising configuration management database (CMDB) has failed — but the original CMDB promise has not. To benefit from trends such as automation, cloud computing, DevOps, and big data, infrastructure and operations (I&O) professionals need trustworthy information more than ever. With ambiguous or inaccurate information, these efforts will implode. A new information model is hereby proposed that escapes the pitfalls of CMDB and greatly expands the domain of information. This new model is tentatively named the service information system (SIS). Visibility offered by the SIS goes far beyond structural configuration data to also include behavioral information, process models, and many other potential dimensions. Such visibility will pave the way for powerful automation of not just infrastructure and other systems, but of critical decisions themselves. A bold new future for business technology will be built atop a SIS that I&O professionals must embrace.

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