Design a configuration item data model with classes and attributes aligned to real change and incident decisions.
Information & Communications Technology
Building a Configuration Management Database for IT Asset Visibility
Design and populate a configuration management database that tracks assets, relationships and dependencies accurately enough to support change, incident and risk decisions.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
Most CMDB projects fail not because the software is wrong but because nobody kept the data honest after go-live, leaving teams to trust spreadsheets instead during an incident. This course teaches you to design a configuration management database that stays accurate because its data model and processes are built for maintenance, not just initial population. You will define configuration item classes and attributes that match how the organisation actually makes decisions, map relationships and dependencies between applications, infrastructure and services, and combine automated discovery tools with reconciliation processes that catch drift. Practical sessions cover service mapping so a single application view reveals every server, database and network path it depends on, plus governance routines that assign data ownership and audit accuracy on a schedule. You finish able to launch a CMDB that change, incident and risk processes can actually rely on.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Map dependencies and relationships between applications, infrastructure and business services.
Deploy automated discovery tools and reconcile their output against manually recorded configuration items.
Build service maps that reveal every underlying component a business-critical application depends on.
Establish data ownership and stewardship roles that keep configuration data current after initial population.
Design audit routines that measure CMDB accuracy and flag drift before it undermines trust in the database.
Integrate the CMDB with change, incident and problem processes so it informs rather than duplicates decision-making.
Who Should Attend
IT service management professionals implementing or maturing a CMDB
Infrastructure and applications teams responsible for keeping asset data current
Change and incident managers who rely on configuration data during decisions
Enterprise architects mapping application and service dependencies
ITSM tool administrators configuring discovery and reconciliation processes
IT asset management leads accountable for hardware and software inventory accuracy
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01Designing the Configuration Data Model
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Defining Configuration Item Classes
- Identify which asset and service types justify their own configuration item class rather than a generic catalogue entry.
- Define attributes for each class that support real decisions, avoiding data fields nobody will maintain.
- Separate configuration items from simple asset records to keep the data model focused on what changes and why.
- Align class definitions with the organisation's existing service catalogue and asset management terminology.
Session 2Modelling Relationships and Dependencies
- Map hosting, connection and dependency relationships between applications, servers, databases and network devices.
- Distinguish physical, logical and contractual relationships that each answer a different operational question.
- Model relationship depth deliberately, avoiding an overly granular graph that becomes too costly to maintain.
- Validate the relationship model against a real incident scenario to confirm it would have shown the right dependency.
02Populating the CMDB Through Discovery
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Automated Discovery Tooling
- Select discovery tools appropriate to on-premises servers, cloud resources and network devices across the estate.
- Schedule discovery scans that balance data freshness against network load and licensing cost.
- Configure discovery scope to avoid populating the CMDB with irrelevant transient or test resources.
- Handle discovery gaps for legacy or isolated systems that automated tools cannot reach directly.
Session 2Reconciliation and Data Quality Control
- Reconcile discovered configuration items against manually recorded entries to resolve conflicts and duplicates.
- Set data quality rules that flag incomplete, stale or contradictory configuration item records.
- Define an authoritative source of truth for each attribute when multiple tools report conflicting values.
- Establish a process for manually verifying high-risk configuration items that automated discovery cannot fully confirm.
03Building Service Maps and Dependency Views
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Constructing Application Service Maps
- Build a service map that shows every server, database and integration point a business-critical application depends on.
- Validate service maps by tracing an actual transaction path through the components shown.
- Keep service maps current by linking their updates to the same discovery and reconciliation cadence as the CMDB.
- Use service maps to identify single points of failure that were not previously visible to application owners.
Session 2Supporting Change and Incident Decisions
- Use dependency data during change assessment to identify every service a proposed change could affect.
- Speed incident diagnosis by tracing symptoms through the service map to a likely root-cause component.
- Feed configuration item history into problem management to spot patterns across recurring incidents.
- Present dependency data to change advisory boards in a form that supports fast, confident risk decisions.
04Governing the CMDB Over Time
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Assigning Ownership and Stewardship
- Assign a named data owner for each configuration item class who is accountable for its ongoing accuracy.
- Build stewardship routines that require owners to confirm or correct their data on a fixed schedule.
- Train service desk and change teams to update configuration data as a normal part of their existing workflows.
- Escalate persistent data quality failures to management as a governance issue rather than a technical one.
Session 2Measuring Accuracy and Sustaining Trust
- Run periodic accuracy audits that sample configuration items against physical or cloud-console verification.
- Track a CMDB health score covering completeness, accuracy and relationship coverage over time.
- Report CMDB health metrics to IT leadership alongside incident and change performance data.
- Plan phased expansion of CMDB scope to new asset types once core classes demonstrate sustained accuracy.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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