Matt: Thanks for your well thought out input. The issue, though, is I'm curious about REAL WORLD usage and success. I've already heard all the sales pitch, the promises, and the campaign spiels. I've heard all the, "With ITSM/CMDB you WILL be able to do this...you CAN do that."
I want to hear, "We ARE doing this...we ARE doing that and our business/organization is X percent better!" Theories and ideas are great, but I've learned from many, many, many real world experiences that often when you attempt to put the theory into effect (i.e., actually USE the thing), it doesn't pan out. The data collected is not good, or worthless, or too voluminous. Or the system "cries wolf" too often. Or the benefits don't outweigh the overhead (administration, process, bureaucracy) needed to make it go. Etcetera. I'd really be curious to watch a service desk analyst--someone wearing a headset and fielding calls in a very busy call center--consume any data provided by a CMDB. Granted, environments are different, but in my experience the bulk of the calls fielded by the Help Desks (ahem..SERVICE Desks) I've been around (and trust me--I've been around a lot of them) are for problems like... - My account is locked out. - I can't get to XYZ website. - How do I set up an email profile on my new computer? - I need a new network password. - How do I access the terminal server from home? - How do I change this outline format in Word? - My printer needs toner. - I need my voicemail set up on my phone. In each of these cases, does the data in a CMDB help me? HECK NO! If I'm working the Help Desk and a customer calls and asks me to help her set up an email profile, do I care how fast her processor is? How much memory is in her workstation? What type of video card is in her workstation? What make/model her workstation is? HECK NO! Now for those of you who argue that the CMDB helps you track changes--especially unauthorized changes--that's true, but I say there are other common auto-discovery tools on the market that do that...and do it better. Norm _______________________________________________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE or access ARSlist Archives at www.arslist.org ARSlist:"Where the Answers Are"
