BOOK: Implementing ITIL Configuration Management

I started reading through the book Implementing ITIL Configuration Management, by Larry Klosterboer. I'm really not what I'd consider an expert on ITIL nor IT Service Management, but I've had more than my fair share of exposure to it and am certainly no "slouch" in that area either.

This book looks to be an overview of ITIL and to how it applies to configuration management. From there one can extrapolate how much of it relates to CM for not just IT assets and infrastructure but to the software development environment and to software development itself.

The book includes coverage of the following (from the back cover):

• Assessing your current configuration management maturity and setting goals for improvement
• Gathering and managing requirements to align ITIL with organizational needs
• Describing the schema of your configuration management database (CMDB)
• Identifying, capturing, and organizing configuration data
• Choosing the best tools for your requirements
• Integrating data and processes to create a unified logical CMDB and configuration management service
• Implementing pilot projects to demonstrate the value of configuration management and to test your planning
• Moving from a pilot to wide-scale enterprise deployment
• Defining roles for deployment and ongoing staffing
• Leveraging configuration management information: Reporting and beyond
• Measuring and improving CMDB data accuracy

To take the next step, and for a REALLY thorough treatment of how IT service management and CM comes full circle to embrace all of enterprise architecture and software development, I highly recommend Charles Betz' book Architecture and Patterns for IT Service Management, Resource Planning, and Governance: Making Shoes for the Cobbler's Children. As I mentioned in a blog-entry early last year, this book "really ought to be required reading for anyone that fancies themselves a 'CM professional' (especially Software CM) or an 'Enterprise Architect.'"