How do you optimize your CMDB for performance and cost efficiency?

1 Audit your CMDB regularly

One of the first steps to optimize your CMDB is to audit it regularly and identify any errors, gaps, duplicates, or inconsistencies in your data. You can use automated tools, such as discovery and reconciliation engines, to scan your IT assets and compare them with your CMDB records. You can also involve your stakeholders, such as service owners, technicians, and users, to verify and update the information in your CMDB. By auditing your CMDB, you can ensure that it reflects the current state of your IT environment and supports your business needs.

2 Define and prioritize your CIs

Another way to optimize your CMDB is to define and prioritize your CIs based on their relevance, importance, and impact on your IT services and processes. You don't need to include every detail or every item in your CMDB, as this can create unnecessary complexity and overhead. Instead, you should focus on the CIs that are critical for your service delivery, such as servers, applications, networks, and databases. You should also assign attributes, relationships, and statuses to your CIs, such as name, type, owner, dependency, availability, and lifecycle. By defining and prioritizing your CIs, you can simplify your CMDB structure and improve its usability and scalability.

3 Implement data quality standards

A third tip to optimize your CMDB is to implement data quality standards and enforce them across your organization. Data quality standards are the rules and guidelines that govern how you collect, store, update, and delete data in your CMDB. They can include data formats, naming conventions, data sources, data owners, data access, data retention, and data security. By implementing data quality standards, you can ensure that your CMDB data is consistent, accurate, complete, and reliable. You can also use data quality metrics, such as accuracy, completeness, timeliness, and validity, to measure and monitor your CMDB data quality and identify any issues or improvements.

4 Automate your CMDB processes

A fourth tip to optimize your CMDB is to automate your CMDB processes as much as possible. Automation can help you reduce manual errors, save time and resources, and increase efficiency and productivity. You can use automation tools, such as scripts, workflows, integrations, and APIs, to perform tasks such as data collection, data validation, data reconciliation, data synchronization, and data reporting. For example, you can use scripts to collect data from your IT assets and validate it against your CMDB records. You can also use workflows to trigger actions based on data changes, such as creating tickets, sending alerts, or updating documents. By automating your CMDB processes, you can streamline your CMDB operations and maintain its performance and accuracy.

5 Review and optimize your CMDB design

A fifth tip to optimize your CMDB is to review and optimize your CMDB design periodically and align it with your business goals and requirements. Your CMDB design is the way you organize, classify, and represent your CIs and their relationships in your CMDB. It can include aspects such as data models, schemas, hierarchies, views, and dashboards. Your CMDB design should be flexible, adaptable, and scalable to accommodate the changes and growth of your IT environment and business needs. You should also consider the performance and cost implications of your CMDB design, such as storage space, processing time, and licensing fees. By reviewing and optimizing your CMDB design, you can ensure that your CMDB is fit for purpose and delivers value to your organization.

6 Leverage best practices and frameworks

A sixth tip to optimize your CMDB is to leverage best practices and frameworks that can guide you in implementing and managing your CMDB effectively and efficiently. Best practices and frameworks are the proven methods and standards that can help you achieve your CMDB objectives and overcome your CMDB challenges. They can include industry standards, such as ITIL, COBIT, or ISO/IEC 20000, or vendor-specific guidelines, such as ServiceNow or BMC. By leveraging best practices and frameworks, you can benefit from the experience and expertise of other organizations and professionals who have successfully implemented and optimized their CMDBs.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?