What Benefits Does an Effective Asset and Configuration Management System Bring?

Maintaining a register of an organization’s IT infrastructure is essential for identifying configuration items, monitoring all used equipment, and responding to emerging issues. These tasks can be carried out in various ways, but the most effective approach is using a CMDB, a configuration management database. Why is it worth implementing?

Why Is Monitoring IT Infrastructure So Important?

Effective monitoring of IT infrastructure in an organization is crucial to ensure that its individual components operate without disruptions. In large companies, a team of experts is responsible for ensuring everything functions correctly. Specialists analyze:

• availability,
• performance,
• infrastructure security,
• (indirectly) data security.

Their responsibilities also include responding to irregularities and quickly resolving them. However, even the best experts cannot conduct effective IT infrastructure monitoring without access to appropriate tools such as knowledge base software. A knowledge base must cover all system components and the relationships between them. A CMDB—an asset and configuration management database—is most often used for this purpose.

Such software can be found, among others, in OXARI’s offer. It is extremely useful and allows for better, easier, and more efficient control of the entire organization’s operations.

CMDB – What Is It?

A CMDB contains data on the processes and components that make up the IT infrastructure, which are essential in most organizations. The fundamental elements of such a database are configuration items (CI). These items are connected by relationships through which CIs form specific services supported by the IT department. A CMDB consists of:

• computer hardware,
• servers, switches, and routers,
• software (systems, databases, applications),
• information on employee roles and permissions.

A CMDB stores all information needed for proper monitoring of the IT infrastructure. Moreover, it serves as a reference point for all assets. Why is it so important? Primarily because every organization changes and grows, and its structures become increasingly complex. Over time, tracking this development without adequate tools becomes difficult or even impossible.

What Data Does a CMDB Provide?

A CMDB is a central database of all hardware and software. It significantly simplifies asset and configuration management and is therefore essential for ongoing IT infrastructure monitoring. A well-chosen CMDB system allows you to immediately answer questions such as:

• What equipment is being used?
• Which software licenses are used in the company?
• How many software versions are there?
• Who has access to specific resources?
• Who is authorized to use particular programs?
• What assets are assigned to employees who have left the organization?

Access to this knowledge enables continuous monitoring of IT infrastructure from many different perspectives.

What Benefits Does Asset and Configuration Management Provide?

The role of a CMDB in IT infrastructure management is invaluable. A well-suited tool is highly beneficial and enhances the performance of the entire company. A CMDB:

• ensures visibility and transparency of data essential for organizational management,
• enables risk assessments, protecting assets from failures and errors,
• facilitates the identification of irregularities and changes, allowing for quicker responses,
• contains information about asset relationships, improving the analysis of root causes of potential issues.

A CMDB not only enables better IT infrastructure monitoring but also speeds up issue resolution, helps control who has access to specific assets, and brings numerous other important benefits. Alongside a Service Desk system (for handling requests), it is indispensable in many organizations. Using a CMDB can significantly help meet the requirements set by the NIS2 directive, which obligates organizations to implement cybersecurity risk management measures and report incidents.

We also encourage you to explore the possibilities of the MDM system—a platform for managing mobile devices.