$135,000 Worth of Dirt!!

Okay, it's been a while since I last posted.  Sorry about that.  Let me try and get you caught up on my home building odyssey.

Last month I closed on the lot where I intend to build my new home.  While I fully understand that the lot will soon be the location for my house and will serve as the foundation for its construction, I have to admit that I still struggled with the notion of paying that much money for a bunch of dirt.

That same week, I happened to be speaking at a briefing on Configuration Management and a woman there struggled with a similar issue.  She was asking about how to cost justify the implementation of a Configuration Management process and the accompanying Configuration Management Database (CMDB).  She was looking for Configuration Management return on investment (ROI) measures.  I'm discovering that she is not alone.

Today many organizations are either actively pursuing or seriously considering CMDB projects.  Unfortunately, many of these projects are doomed for failure.  I believe that they will fail not because they didn't have the right technology or bright people working on the effort.  No, I believe that they will fail simply because they never understood what it meant to succeed.  What constitutes a successful CMDB implementation?  When you're "done", how will you know if it was "worth it"?

Ultimately, I will measure the success of my lot purchase by the resulting house that I can build on it.  In the same way, IT organizations should measure the success of their Configuration Management implementations by the resulting IT processes that can either be enhanced or built upon the information stored in the CMDB.  The goal of Configuration Management is to provide a sound basis for ITIL processes such as Incident, Problem, and Change Management.  Imagine how nice it would be to instantly know the business impact of a failed IT component when trying to resolve an incident.  This is information that a good Configuration Management process can provide.  Or, think about how much the business would appreciate knowing upfront that the change you're contemplating is going to impact several key customer-facing services.  This information is also available via a good Configuration Management process.

If done properly Configuration Management can provide key information to virtually all of the service management processes.  It is on this basis that its cost of implementation should be assessed and justified.

I didn't buy my lot in order to say I am now the proud owner of $135,000 worth of dirt.  I bought it to build my home upon.  Don't implement Configuration Management in your organization in order to say you're the proud owner of a CMDB.  Implement it to build your service management program upon.

Oh, by the way.  Here's one more thought.  Don't think in terms of a CMDB implementation project.  Instead think about implementing Configuration Management.  The CMDB is simply the tool you use to enable the process.

Okay, I'm now off to go check on my dirt!! 

Y'all be careful out there!