CMDB music to my ears

Common sense is not very common. On fad topics like CMDB it is rarer still. So I don't expect to find it in spades on the site of one of ITIL's most avid cheerleaders, HP. But Jody Roberts is singing my kind of song...

Of course Jody is not as deeply skeptical of the whole concept of CMDB as I am, but nevertheless look at this from the ITSM bog at hp.com:

...the value of a CMDB and CMS. A big part of the TCO value equation is the TCD, Total Cost of Deployment. TCD is often underestimated...
the two most important factors are also the two most difficult to measure and change are people and processes...
Implementing a CMS is much more than getting the solution deployed, or getting some discovery done, or even getting some providers and consumers onboarded. It's about changing the way IT works. To that end you absolutely must start with what IT is - not a data center or even a collection of infrastructure and apps - IT's an organization, and organizations are built around people, process and culture...
Deploying a CMS will touch almost everyone in the IT organization, because the CMDB almost always follows the implementation of some other initiative such as change or release management or other IT-wide scope... [So actually the touching comes from the supported process not the CMDB per se but the point is still good]
Without thinking of your CMDB this way, you are likely to do some of that dangerous underestimating of the effort of getting ROI out of your CMS after your consultants have left the building.

Thanks Jody for telling it like it is [and for commenting on this blog recently]. Can't wait for that next post on culture.

Comments

We're just getting warmed up

Parts 2 and 3 are posted at http://www.hp.com/blogs/ITSM.

Thanks very much for the comment Mr. Skeptic. To get this kind of comment from the likes of The Skeptic is unexpectedly high praise, something I'm very appreciative of but nonetheless unworthy.

We still have such a long way to go as an industry. It's like 1902 and we're all waiting for the Wright brothers to come along and show us how to get it right. So far Mr. O'Donnell and Mr. Casanova are the Bournoullis of our time and space. ITIL has a correctly-shaped wing but it still lacks the proper oomph and we need some lighter and stronger "materials". There is absolutely no disparagement to be cast on the skeptics who are still unconviced that powered ITIL flight is a possibility. I think it can be done, and in fact we may have made some short (ROI) flights on the beach. But free peanuts and a 747 it ain't.

If you're wondering how in the world I can get away with my apparent nibbling of the hand that feeds me, I am not. It is my intent to be something of a "super vaccine" for my employer. I may sometimes seem to beat up vendors in general, but all my research makes me believe I'm riding the fastest horse and that HP is the best positioned to make good things happen (besides having a little money and a few buildings full of very smart engineers and experienced business people to help me, what does that mean? Just hand me your crystal ball and I'll tell you - no, I'm not selling anything, just really glad for who I work for). What keeps my employer honest is the same thing that I hope to devastate our competition. So I really am just one quarter-millionth of one vendor. But I'm trying to be a thinking, skeptical, brutally-honest, researching 1/250,000th who strives to be in touch with the industry and the communities (that'd be you folks).

I'm a "cargo cult science" kind of guy, google Feynman's speech on that. Once you know how to not fool yourself, it's easy not to fool others. A kind of bending-over-backwards approach to integrity and science-based approaches to technology.

Any time we can meaningfully contribute to our little skeptical circus, we all benefit. Can I test my assumptions on you? See if I'm on the right track? Please check out my post then bring it on! Tell us where you think we're wrong or have gaps.

Thanks again
JR

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