A configuration management database (CMDB) is an important component of an organization to ensure they are aware of what assets are in the organization and also the relationships and interdependencies that are in place. Despite being at the core of the ITIL process, many organizations fail to implement a CMDB, this can be due to resource limitations; time, knowledge or money.
These perceived limitations are not as valid as anticipated, implementing a CMDB solution is quite straightforward and cost-effective compared to the risk that is prevalent without one. Opmantek has an extensive CMDB solution that will benefit your organization while reducing the severity of the resource limitations that other implementations can face.
Time Limitations
As IT departments have grown in responsibility there has been a decline in resources and staff in some organizations. These companies don’t view IT as an asset, they view it as a liability and a cost that they wish to reduce. There are resources that showcase how managing IT as a business will actually improve net revenue. A major challenge for these organizations is finding the time to implement solutions today, that will save them tomorrow, it is hard to think ahead when you are fighting daily fires.
Open-AudIT is the perfect solution for teams that are in this situation, the application can be installed on Windows, Linux or on a CentOS 7 VM, up and running in under 10 minutes. After supplying credentials, Open-AudIT will automatically discover everything that is connected to your network and then proceed to audit it. In 10 minutes you will have an effective CMDB storing every asset that is connected to your network.
Further, opConfig acts as a configuration and compliance management tool that will monitor your network devices for configuration changes. Once configured, it will alert on change and can also compare configuration states to its own history or even other machines. Once you have downloaded opConfig, there is minimal set up required and it will start monitoring your network, you will know of anomalies in minutes.
Knowledge Limitations
The same departments mentioned above that have been given more responsibilities, generally aren’t afforded the extra time to thoroughly learn new systems and processes, they have the time to learn to fight the fire not prevent it. This can lead to applications being partially configured, used differently to intentions or not used at all.
Opmantek offer 30-day free support for all new customers to help them get our software working and optimised, Opmantek even offers on-site training to help all staff easily grow accustomed to our platform.
Financial Limitations
The bottom-line when implementing new software is to keep in mind the bottom-line. A CMDB solution will provide a better change management process while also protecting your organization against any disaster scenarios because you will have the ability to roll back. Finding budget to use software for prevention purposes becomes really difficult to justify the ROI because they are systems designed to provide value in a crisis.
However, the combination of opConfig and Open-AudIT boast a wide array of business benefits for immediate, Open-AudIT can be used for asset management and to ensure that you are within license parameters, opConfig can be used to ensure that all of your network devices are configured correctly and compliant to numerous standards. This combination of modules is saving organisations thousands of dollars in licensing fees each year by automating device discovery and audit, storing configurations, monitoring changes and pushing configuration changes out to sets of devices.
