So what’s up? How are things going? I hope everyone had a good holiday full of quality family time and turkey. Such is life-all holidays must come to end, and we all have to get back to work.

So when last we chatted, we were discussing some benefits of undertaking a strategy to construct a service catalog and CMDB in a joint effort. The first benefit that I mentioned was the ability to identify the composition of a service, which includes Hardware, Software, Manpower Governance, Standards, etc. Let me elaborate. One of the biggest challenges for IT is to gain a universal understanding of what a service is. You might laugh but a common reaction when first trying to define a service is skepticism and uncertainty. A common feeling is that if the item can not be shoved in a rack or is not the latest flashy piece of technology, it is worthless or a waste of money. The reality is that IT functions in the realm of the tangible. So there is not the typical warm-heart welcome when someone brings up the concept of a ’service’.

So how does one get around this?

By defining a service with the items within the CMDB, individuals can better solidify relationships and the composition of a given service. This allows items that were not tangible to become tangible and have identity. In addition this provides an additional (service) layer to be integrated with the CMDB structure from day one, which provides IT with a very powerful data structure that includes a complete set of views (including business, customer and IT).

Any questions?

Well until next time; remember to use your powers for good.

Also, check out our new White Paper on “How To Develop a Service Catalog”.

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