Integrated change and configuration management

Abstract

This paper provides a summary of the best-practice change-management and configuration-management processes that express a core which conforms to ITIL® and discusses how they are extended for the service provider domain. These customizable processes, coupled with an execution platform and a configuration-management database, form the essence of the IBM Tivoli® Change and Configuration Management Database (CCMDB)—the heart of the IBM strategy for information technology service management (ITSM). We provide an overview of ITSM best practices and present details of the best-practice processes developed by IBM for the CCMDB product. We also describe a number of insights gained from implementing these processes and discuss issues that are key to implementing them in a service provider environment.