ITIL Service Configuration Management as a Driver of Enterprise Digital Transformation: A Quantitative Research Study

The drive to be able to implement cutting edge information technologies as a competitive advantage has contributed to a frenzy in digital transformation initiatives across several industries including academia. Service offerings of digital transformations have become universal, examples being Blackboard LMS, Netflix, and Uber, especially since the advent of cloud computing. Previous research by Enterprise Management Associates (EMA™) confirms there is not a lot of research available on CMDB, and this work fills that void. The scope of this work includes a review of three major digital transformation case studies. We provide a comprehensive use case of how the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) process plays a key role in digital transformation projects. We outline instances of how enterprises can utilize the CMDB as a driver for digital transformation projects. We also propose CMDB tools and techniques that are most suitable to increase successful digital transformation projects’ implementation within academia and other industries, hence translating to a better ROI. The goal of the paper is to enhance the available information on CMDB as a core ITIL process that supports digital transformation. This is achieved by providing a comprehensive analysis of existing data and linking CMDB and digital transformation.