MentisCell – CMDB (Configuration Management Database)

Summary

The CMDB is a centralized database that stores and relates an organization’s IT assets and components, known as Configuration Items (CIs). It provides a holistic view of the technology landscape, enabling control, traceability, impact analysis, and informed decision-making.

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MentisCell – CMDB

Content

The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is a core practice in IT management.
It records assets such as servers, databases, applications, networks, services, and non-technical elements like contracts, providers, and ownership. By modeling dependencies and service mappings, the CMDB supports operational excellence and governance. It is a best practice to also think about security assets, such as SSL Certificates.

Main functions

Visibility: a single, reliable source of truth for assets and their interdependencies.
Change management: impact assessment before changes and post-change verification.
Traceability: configuration and change history for audit and compliance.
Optimization: identification of redundancies, vulnerabilities, and improvement opportunities.
Decision support: budgeting, resource allocation, risk prioritization, and capacity planning.

Use cases

Data center and cloud migration planning.
Service dependency mapping for incident and problem management.
Identifying obsolete or non-compliant software and unsupported configurations.
Ownership routing to the responsible teams and vendors.
Integration with ITSM, ITAM, and ITOM to drive operational efficiency and governance.

Essence

Centralized, reliable repository of assets and configurations.
End-to-end visibility and traceability across services and dependencies.
Direct support for operational efficiency, cost control, risk reduction, and availability.
Critical enabler for security, compliance, and change governance.

Interconnections

Contributors

Created with the support of Microsoft Copilot on 2025-11-10.
Validation and editorial direction by Jorge Godoy.