Asset Record Does Not Equal CI:The confusion between Asset and Configuration Management

Christine M. RussoManager, IT Asset Management and Property

Serv

ice L

ifecycle

S

tream

What is ITIL® ?

Continuous Improvement

Service Operation

Service Transition

Service Design

Service Strategy

• ITIL = Information Technology Infrastructure Library

Where Asset and Configuration Management Fit

Service Validation

Transition Planning

Release & DeploymentService Asset and

Configuration Change Management

Service Transition

Evaluation

Knowledge Management

Definitions• IT Asset Management (ITAM)

– Manages and reports the value and ownership of financial Assets throughout the asset lifecycle

– The maintenance of data required to achieve optimal Financial Performance

– Centralized tracking physical, financial and contractual data

• Configuration Management (part of ITSM)– Maintaining information about configuration items (CI) required to

deliver an IT Service including their relationships as the CI moves through the service lifecycle

– The maintenance of data required to achieve optimal Technical Performance

– Centralized tracking the state of the overall IT environment at any point

Comparison of Asset to Configuration

Asset Management Configuration Management

Concerned with financial Concerned with Operational

Focus is everything owned Focus is everything deployed

Maintain data for ownership/value

Maintains data for troubleshooting

Lifecycle from Planning to Disposal

Lifecycle from Deploy to Retire

IT Asset and Lifecycle

• An IT Asset is a “product” that has cost, an owner and adds financial value to an organization

• IT Assets are managed throughout the asset lifecycle

• Asset details are stored in the Asset Repository (AMDB) as an Asset Record• The repository is concerned with all assets,

regardless of their status and purpose, and financial cost and relationships between CIs

Plan

Acquire

Receive

Deploy

Manage

Dispose

ASSETMANAGEMENT

“Is it an Asset” Checklist Can you manage the component’s

Procurement, receiving and disposal The software license, maintenance, warranty data or

lease schedule? Track its monetary value? Do you know its status at any given time? Do you know who is using it? Can you track how often it is used? Do you need to report financial value or tax

information?

CI and Lifecycle

• A CI a logical component used to support a service capability

• CIs need to be managed to deliver an IT service

• CIs are stored in the Configuration Management Database (CMDB)

• CMDB contains business IT service relationships and inter-dependencies that are linked to critical business services

Deploy

Move

Add

Change

Retire

“Is it a CI” Checklist Can you open a Incident ticket or Release notice

against the component? Can a change request be submitted? Is it is an operational component? Do you need to report on availability, down time

or capacity?

Integration of ITAM and ConfigPlan

Acquire

Receive

Deploy

Manage

Dispose

Deploy

Move

Add

Change

Retire

ITAMThe synergy between ITAM and ITSM is that several data points that ITAM maintains are the same that ITSM requires for service creation, implementation and metrics

Example• Organizationally, the ITAM organization is responsible for Asset

Management. Configuration Management is performed by various organizations as necessary to support operations

ExampleExample

NOTE THAT DATA FIELDS SIMILARLY NAMED CAN

REPRESENT DIFFERENT INFO FOR ASSET vs.

CONFIGE

ON GLOBAL NETWORK

ST. LOUISOFFICE

AM/CM Records:Similarities and Differences

• In many cases the objectives and data are the same– Both need to know serial numbers, model numbers,

locations, owners, etc.– Both need to know SW installations and HW configurations

• In other cases the objectives are quite different– Only CM wants to know whether the Network is running at

100mb or 1gb– Only AM wants to know the PO number of the purchase

– Only CM wants to know who to contact in case of an outage– Only AM wants to know who to allocate costs to

– Only CM is concerned with changes associated with patching– Only AM is concerned with the ERP relationships

Record Construct and Content

• Asset Record– Serial Number (unique key)– Make/Model– Asset Tag #– Purchase Order #– Asset Status– Maintenance Information– Warranty Information– Owner– Physical Location

• Configuration Record (CI)

– Server Name (unique key)

– OS type and version– Patching Window– Support instructions– Virtual/Physical– Escalation & Support

contact and queue info– User – Physical Location

Points to Remember• Not all Assets are CIs and not all CIs are Assets• An Asset should only be managed as CI if they are under

change management and can present a risk to the business from a service perspective *

• If an Asset is a CI, association of the CI to the Asset Record must be established

• When an asset is changed this changes the organization’s financial status, it does not change the IT Service*

• There is critical integration between the AMDB and CMDB, but one should not replace the other

* Source: ITAM Review by IT Asset Management.net