Configuration Items application

You use the Configuration Items application to define, create, and manage relationships among configuration items according to relationship rules that you specify in the Relationships application. A configuration item is any component of an information technology infrastructure that is controlled by configuration management.

In the Configuration Items application, you can manage configuration item collections, and you can create service requests, incidents, problems, work orders, changes, and releases for the configuration item.

Configuration items vary in complexity, size, and type. A configuration item can be a complete service, including all hardware, software, documentation, and so on. The smallest unit for a configuration item is typically the smallest component that you change independently of other configuration items, such as a minor hardware component.

In practice, most configuration items with which you deal are at a higher level, including assets, services, items, and locations. Some configuration items can be physical locations, such as a data center. Discovery tools typically do not find these configuration items; you can associate them with location records.

You can use discovery tools to locate and characterize some configuration items. Discovered configuration items are called actual configuration items. You can view them in the Actual Configuration Item application.

When you work with configuration items, the following items apply:
  • Configuration items are managed individually, and are typically treated as self-contained units for identification and change control purposes.
  • Configuration items are identified uniquely with names and other attributes.
  • The lowest level configuration item is typically the smallest unit that is changed independently of other components.

Creating configuration items

In the Configuration Items application, you create the configuration items that you want to be under configuration management and change control. The configuration items that you create are sometimes referred to as authorized configuration items.

You often create a configuration item based on an actual configuration item record that was created by a discovery tool. The configuration item record that you create in the Configuration Items application is an authorized version of the configuration item in the Actual Configuration Items application.

Creating records for configuration items

In the Configuration Items application, you can create the following kinds of records for a configuration item:
  • Service requests
  • Incidents
  • Problems
  • Work order
  • Changes
  • Releases

Associating configuration items

You can associate a configuration item with another record, such as an asset, location, item, service, or service group. You can associate the actual configuration item and configuration items in the following ways:
  • In the Configuration Items application, you can create a configuration item and associate it with an actual configuration item.
  • In the Configuration Items application, you can associate an existing configuration item with an actual configuration item.
  • In the Actual CI application, you can create a configuration item (a record in the Configuration Items application) by selecting an actual configuration item and specifying a classification.
Not all configuration items have an association with other records.

The Configuration Items application has multiple features that are tailored for service providers who are managing the customer assets.