Vendors can create and leverage the CMDB database. Opsware and Tripwire, for example, both create asset entries with the CMDB in mind. Asset-management vendors, which scan and inventory desktops, servers and network infrastructures, will use CMDB to create targets for configuration backup and software delivery. Service-management vendors such as Managed Objects already leverage their data integration and collection across third-party vendors to create CMDBs. And service-support products such as FrontRange Solutions' HEAT service-desk package can read an existing CMDB to identify impact, send alerts and track changes.
The second ITIL best-practice task for configuration management is access control. This specifies who can change a record in the CMDB for a device or group of devices. The third task is recording and maintaining the status of every asset in the CMDB, an obvious task and one that should be automated using network- and systems-management software. The final task is auditing and verifying the CMDB to assure its accuracy.
ITIL incident and problem management maps closely to what operators in an NOC do all day--identifying, finding and fixing faults. Remember: Incidents are single events that are indicative of a larger problem. The root cause of an incident is resolved and recorded during the problem-management process, and it can help you sleuth a real underlying problem. The goals of ITIL's problem-management discipline are preventing recurrences and doing preventive maintenance to avoid failures.
Change management, meanwhile, is something many IT organizations currently employ. It involves planning for change and recognizing its impact and benefit. In addition, change management encompasses testing, as well as devising backout plans in case a change fails.
Helpdesk is the front line of IT service, and many organizations already have helpdesks in place. It's part incident coordination and logging, and part diagnostics. This discipline puts a face on IT and gives users a voice.
To realize the benefits of cloud-native software, an application must actually be cloud-native—designed to run in the cloud, interacting with disaggregated cloud services, fully manageable as code—to deliver the expected benefits.
By combining resources and expertise, the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium will offer a blueprint for how industries can adapt to an AI-dominated future.
IT leaders should heed the guidance of cybersecurity insurance providers who think businesses should prioritize security education, incident preparedness, regular internal audits, and ongoing vulnerability scanning and patching.
