White Paper

November 2006

BMC Best Practice Process

Flows for Asset
Management and ITIL
Configuration Management

Copyright 2006 BMC Software, Inc. All rights reserved.

BMC, the BMC logo, all other BMC product or service names, BMC Software, the BMC Software logos, and
all other BMC Software product or service names, are registered trademarks or trademarks of BMC
Software, Inc. All other trademarks belong to their respective companies.
BMC Software, Inc., considers information included in this documentation to be proprietary and
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notices included in this documentation.
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COPYRIGHT LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. Use, duplication, or disclosure of any data and computer software by the
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252.227-7014, DFARS 252.227-7015, and DFARS 252.227-7025, as amended from time to time. Contractor/Manufacturer is
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Contacting Us
If you need technical support for this product, contact Customer Support by email at
[email protected]. If you have comments or suggestions about this documentation, contact
Information Development by email at [email protected].
This edition applies to version 7.0 of the licensed program.

BMC Software, Inc.

www.bmc.com

Contents
Chapter 1

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Process flow shapes and text indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
For more information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Chapter 2

ITIL configuration management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Configuration management planning
Configuration identification . . . .
Configuration specification. . . . .
Configuration control . . . . . . .
Configuration audit and verification .

Chapter 3

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12
15
17
19
20

Asset Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Procurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Cost managementchargebacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Cost managementcost capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Cost managementdepreciation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Contract management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Software license managementlicense compliance . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Software license managementnew contracts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Software license managementdeployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Asset maintenance and CMDB updatesscheduled maintenance . . . . . 39

Contents

BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

Asset maintenance and CMDB updatesscheduled audits . . . . . . . . 40

Asset maintenance and CMDB updatesreview health . . . . . . . . . . 41
Asset retirement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Version reviews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Schedule definitionsmaintenance windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Schedule definitionsblackout windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Schedule definitionsmaintenance schedules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Schedule definitionsaudit schedules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

4 Contents

Chapter

Introduction

This white paper describes the process flows implemented in the BMC
Remedy 7.0 Asset Management application, and based on IT Infrastructure
Library (ITIL) best practices for configuration management.
The BMC Remedy Asset Management application lets IT professionals track
and manage enterprise configuration items (CIs)and their changing
relationshipsthroughout the entire asset lifecycle. Asset Management
tracks contracts, financial costs, software licenses, outage indicators, and
more for the CI information stored within the BMC Atrium
Configuration Management Database (CMDB) application.
BMC Configuration Management distributes software and patches to
desktops, servers, and handheld devices, and can synchronize application
code and content. Use this tool to help implement part of the ITIL
configuration management process.
BMC Configuration Discovery discovers hardware and software and can
monitor usage of software. Use this tool to help implement the CMDB data
load and the audit parts of the ITIL configuration management process. It
can also play a role in the software license compliance part of the Asset
Management lifecycle.
The BMC Atrium CMDB product provides all the necessary features to
implement a CMDB, including normalization and reconciliation of data.
Data normalization uses the Definitive Software Library (DSL).

Introduction

BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

As part of the BMC Remedy IT Service Management (ITSM) Suite, Asset

Management is integrated with BMC Remedy Service Desk (which contains
the BMC Remedy Incident Management and BMC Remedy Problem
Management applications), BMC Remedy Change Management, and BMC
Service Level Management, and offers flexibility to support customized
business processes.
To help you understand how the ITIL configuration management processes
are supported by BMC applications, this white paper includes:
!

Process flow diagramsfor both the high-level overview, and the detailed
steps.

Text explaining how the process is supported by the application.

Delineation of the process into separate user roles.

Process flow shapes and text indicators

The process flow diagrams in this white paper use the following shapes and
text indicators:
Table 1-A: Process flow shapes and text indicators

Shape or text indicator

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Description
Start or end shape indicates the starting or ending
point of the process flow, for example, change
initiation.

Flow line shape indicates the sequence of steps and the

direction of the process flow.


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6 Chapter 1Introduction

Action or process shape indicates a single step in the

flow, for example, determine incident type.

White Paper
Table 1-A: Process flow shapes and text indicators (Continued)

Shape or text indicator


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Description
Decision shape indicates a branching point (Yes or
No) in the process flow, for example, customer info
correct?

Off-page shape indicates that the process continues in

a different diagram; the number indicates the step.
For example, process continues in a different diagram
with step 2.1.

Chevron shape indicates that the process started from

a different diagram and continues here. For example,
process continues from step 2.11.

Subroutine shape indicates a sequence of actions that

perform specific tasks embedded within an external
process flow, for example, Incident Management or
Change Management.

Identifies databases used in ITSM 7.0 process flows,

for example, service level management or CMDB.

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For more information

For information about additional BMC best practices, see the following
documentation:
!

BMC Best Practice Process Flows for ITIL Change Management

BMC Best Practice Process Flows for ITIL Incident and Problem
Management

For more information

BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

For detailed information about the ITSM 7.0 applications, see the following
documentation:
!

BMC Remedy Asset Management 7.0 Users Guide

BMC Remedy Service Desk: Incident Management 7.0 Users Guide

BMC Remedy Service Desk: Problem Management 7.0 Users Guide

BMC Remedy Change Management 7.0 Users Guide

For information about other BMC applications mentioned in this white

paper, see the following documentation:
!

BMC Atrium CMDB 2.0 Users Guide

BMC Configuration Management Introduction to Products 7.0 Guide

For additional information about the relationship between Asset

Management, ITIL, and the CMDB, see the following BMC white paper:
!

Asset Management, ITIL, and the CMDB: Connecting the Dots between IT
Operations and the Bottom Line

8 Chapter 1Introduction

Chapter

ITIL configuration management

ITIL configuration management process is responsible for controlling all

managed IT infrastructure items and for maintaining the CMDB. BMC
supports ITIL configuration management with the following applications:
!

BMC Remedy Asset ManagementLets IT professionals track and

manage enterprise configuration items (CIs)and their changing
relationshipsthroughout the entire asset lifecycle. For details of the
extended functionality for asset management that it provides, see Asset
Management on page 23.

BMC Configuration ManagementDistributes software and patches to

desktops, servers, and handheld devices, and can synchronize application
code and content.

BMC Configuration DiscoveryDiscovers hardware and software and

can monitor usage of software. Use this tool to help implement the CMDB
data load and the audit parts of the ITIL configuration management
process.

The BMC Atrium CMDBProvides all the necessary features to

implement a CMDB, including normalization and reconciliation of data.
Data normalization uses the Definitive Software Library (DSL).

ITIL configuration management

BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

The ITIL Configuration Management process flow includes the following

user roles:
Table 2-A: Configuration Management user roles

Role

Description

Configuration manager

This is a role in ITIL. The configuration

manager and the asset manager might be
the same person within an organization.
The configuration manager controls the
CMDB. ITIL includes a separate role for a
configuration administrator who
administrates the CMDB.
Because BMC can automate some of the
steps for a configuration administrator,
these flow diagrams attach nonautomated steps to the configuration
manager role.

Configuration auditor

This person audits CIs in the CMDB

against the physical items.

Discovery

Some steps of the process are completed

or assisted by discovery tools, such as
BMC Configuration Discovery.

System

Some steps of the process are completed

by the system without manual
intervention.

Service support, service delivery, and

other related processes

This includes databases and other ITSM

processes that interact with the ITIL
Configuration Management processes,
including:
!
!
!
!

Asset Management
Change Management
CMDB
Incident Management

This section describes the ITIL Configuration Management processes and

user roles.

10 Chapter 2ITIL configuration management

White Paper

For information about BMC applications that support ITIL Configuration

Management, see:
!

BMC Asset Management 7.0 User Guide

BMC Atrium CMDB 2.0 Users Guide

BMC Configuration Management Introduction to Products 7.0 Guide

Overview
The configuration management process includes five stages.
Figure 2-A: Overview of the configuration management process

1
Configuration
management
planning

2
Configuration
identification

3
Configuration
specifications

4
Configuration control

5
Configuration
audit and
verification

Service support,
service delivery,
and other related processes

Configuration auditor

Configuration manager

CMDB

RFC

Asset
Management

Change
Management

Incident
Management

Asset
Management

Incident
Management

Change
Management

Change
Management

The configuration management process begins when the configuration

manager plans the configuration management strategy.
Stage 1 Configuration management planningDuring this stage, the configuration

manager creates the configuration plan, which includes plans for the CMDB.
It also includes building the configuration catalog, the product catalog, and
DSL entries.

Overview

11

BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

Stage 2 Configuration identificationThe configuration manager identifies

configuration items. New configuration items can be recorded and identified

as part of Asset Management, Change Management, or Incident
Management.
When a new configuration item is identified, it is stored in the CMDB.
Stage 3 Configuration specificationsThe configuration manager manages

configuration specifications. Configuration specifications are recorded

through Asset Management and stored in the CMDB.
Stage 4 Configuration controlThe configuration manager controls changes to

configuration items. Requests for configuration changes come from both

incident management and change management. Updates to the
configuration are stored in the CMDB.
Stage 5 Configuration audit and verificationThe configuration manager and the

configuration auditor verify configuration changes and perform periodic

configuration audits.
Database corrections resulting from this process update the CMDB. If
changes are required, a request for change is created and completed by the
change management process.

Details
This section describes the detailed steps for each stage of the configuration
management process.

Stage 1 Configuration management planning

In this stage, the configuration manager creates and implements a
configuration plan. These are manual planning and implementation steps,
performed outside of the Asset Management application. The configuration
plan includes plans for the CMDB. It also includes building the configuration
catalog, the product catalog, and DSL entries.

12 Chapter 2ITIL configuration management

White Paper

Planning the CMDB is a key aspect of configuration planning. These plans

include:
!

Scope, depth, and breadth of the CMDB.

Method to populate the CMDB. For example, the CMDB can be initially
populated from spreadsheets and bulk loads. Plans must include how to
normalize and reconcile the initial load.

Time lines.

When determining the scope of the CMDB, plan which CIs will be tracked in
the CMDB, such as servers and software.
When determining the depth of the CMDB, plan the number and level of CI
relationships to maintain. It is helpful to review CI relationship types and
contact relationship types.
When determining the breadth of the CMDB, plan the level of detail to be
tracked on CIs. It is helpful to review CI attributes, financials, maintenance
schedules, and other fields. It is also helpful to review CI impacted areas.
When implementing the plans, the configuration manager defines structures
and foundation data that will be used during the identification stage. For
example, product categorizations are used to classify the CIs. Foundation
data recorded for CIs can include sites, locations, owners, and (if using the
multi-tenancy feature of the application) companies.

Details

13

BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

1.1
Create a
configuration
plan

1.2 Implement
configuration
plan

2.1

Service support,
service delivery,
and other related
processes

Configuration
auditor

System

Discovery

Configuration
manager

Figure 2-B: Configuration management planning

The process includes the following steps:

1.1 The configuration manager creates a configuration plan.
1.2 The configuration manager implements the configuration plan.

The process continues with the Configuration identification stage at step 2.1.

14 Chapter 2ITIL configuration management

White Paper

Stage 2 Configuration identification

In this stage, the configuration manager identifies configuration items.
Discovery tools can be used to discover and create CI records.

2.1
Initial CMDB
load?

No

2.2
Gather/
discover initial
CI data

2.3
Create new CI
record

2.6 New
configuration
baseline
required?

No

3.1

No

Generate RFC to
update standard name
catalog

Yes

Change
Management

Change
Management

2.4 Software?

Configuration
auditor
Service support,
service delivery,
and other related
processes

2.5 Update to
standard name
catalog required?

Yes

System

Discovery

Configuration manager

Figure 2-C: Configuration identification

Yes

Change
Management

Asset Management:
Software License
Management

Details

15

BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

2.1 The configuration manager determines whether to perform an initial CMDB

load.
2.2 If this is an initial CMDB load, CI data is gathered or discovered.

This can be automated, or partially automated, by using discovery tools to

find CIs. Also, the configuration manager can physically survey the
organization and gather CIs.
2.3 The configuration manager or discovery tool creates a new CI record.

The CI record includes product categorization and other foundation data,

such as the site, owner, and company.
2.4 The system determines whether the CI is software.

For software CIs, the system follows the Asset Management process for
Software License Management, as described in Software license
managementlicense compliance on page 35.
2.5 The configuration manager determines whether an update to the standard

name catalog is required.

Standardized names for products are provided by the product catalog. To
update this catalog, the asset manager generates an RFC to update the
catalog. This update is handled by the change management process.
2.6 The configuration manager determines whether a new configuration

baseline is required.
If a new configuration baseline is required, this is handled through the
change management process.
The process continues with the Configuration specification stage at step 3.1.

16 Chapter 2ITIL configuration management

White Paper

Stage 3 Configuration specification

In this stage, the configuration manager relates the CI to the configuration
baseline and records attributes. At the end of this process, the new CIs might
be audited.

3.1
Relate CI to
configuration
baseline

3.3
Relate
contracts to
CIs

3.4
Create people
relationships

3.5
Build CI interrelationships

3.2
Update
attributes and
status

Service support,
service delivery,
and other related
processes

Configuration
auditor

System

Discovery

Configuration manager

Figure 2-D: Configuration specification

3.6
Reconcile

3.7
Initial audit
required?

Yes

3.8
Perform an
initial audit

3.9
Variances
discovered?

5.1

No

Yes

4.1

No

Configuration
Management: Control

4.0

3.1 The configuration manager relates the CI to the configuration baseline.

3.2 The configuration manager updates the attributes and status of the CI.

If discovery tools initially found the CI, some of the attributes might be
populated by the tools.
3.3 The configuration manager relates contracts to CIs.

The contracts are managed by the Asset Management process for Contract
Management, as described in Contract management on page 33.

Details

17

BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

3.4 The configuration manager relates the CI to people.

If you have Incident Management, when support staff look at an incident

ticket for that person, the CIs related to that person are displayed.
3.5 The configuration manager relates CIs to each other.

When discovery tools find a CI, they might create relationships to other CIs.
3.6 The system reconciles the CI.

The Reconciliation Engine, part of the BMC Atrium CMDB, reconciles CIs
from multiple sources. Up until this point, you are working in the discovery
data set or the asset sandbox data set. You can configure which source is the
standard when there are conflicts.
3.7 The configuration auditor determines whether an initial audit is required.

If an audit is not required, the process moves to the control stage. At this
point, it is in a holding state, which you can think of as step 4.0when an
action occurs that requires the CI to be updated, the process starts with 4.1.
3.8 If an audit is required, the configuration auditor performs the initial audit.

Details of the audit process are described in Configuration audit and

verification on page 20.
3.9 The configuration auditor determines whether variances are discovered.

If variances are discovered, the process moves to the configuration and

control stage with step 4.1.
Otherwise, the process moves to the control stage, but is on hold until an
action occurs that requires the CI to be updated.

18 Chapter 2ITIL configuration management

White Paper

Stage 4 Configuration control

In this stage, the configuration manager responds to requests to modify the
CMDB.

4.1
Request to
modify CMDB

4.2
CI modified or
replaced?

2.1

Replaced

Replaced

4.4
Update CI
attributes and
relationships

Modified

4.3
Retire old CI

Discovery

Configuration manager

Figure 2-E: Configuration control

Service support,
service delivery,
and other related
processes

Configuration
auditor

System

4.5
Reconcile CI
information

Change
Management

Asset
Management

Configuration
Management: Control

CMDB

4.0

4.1 The configuration manager receives a request to modify the CMDB.

This request can come from either the Change Management or Asset
Management process.
4.2 The configuration manager determines whether the CI has been modified or

replaced.
4.3 If the CI has been replaced, the configuration manager retires the old CI.

This starts the asset management process for retiring CIs. Also the
configuration management process returns to the identification stage with
step 2.1.

Details

19

BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

4.4 If the CI has been modified, the configuration manager updates the CI

attributes and relationships.

4.5 The system reconciles the CI against other sources that add, modify, and

delete CIs.
The Reconciliation Engine, part of the BMC Atrium CMDB, reconciles CIs
from multiple sources. You can configure which source is the standard when
there are conflicts.
The process of modifying the CI is complete, and the control process moves
to a holding state, which you can think of as step 4.0when an action occurs
that requires the CI to be updated, the process starts again with 4.1.

Stage 5 Configuration audit and verification

In this stage, the configuration manager initiates an audit, which is
performed by the configuration auditor. An audit is a comparison between
CIs recorded in the CMDB and the physical items.

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White Paper

This process begins when the configuration manager initiates an audit. The
process continues with the following steps:
5.1 The configuration manager determines the scope of the audit.
5.2 The configuration auditor runs the audit.

An audit can be performed by:

!

Scanning the product.

A selective or full inventory can be performed with a bar-code reader.

Using a discovery tool.

Manually obtaining the information.

5.3 The configuration auditor collates the audit results.

The configuration auditor starts to analyze the results of the audit.

5.4 The configuration auditor determines exceptions and priorities.
5.5 The configuration auditor validates exceptions.
5.6 If this is an initial audit, the process returns to the configuration specification

stage with step 3.9. Otherwise, the exceptions are handled by the change
management process.

Details

21

BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

22 Chapter 2ITIL configuration management

Chapter

Asset Management

Asset management extends the CMDB functionality to provide processes for

cradle-to-grave asset management.
The asset management process flows include the following user roles:
Table 3-A: Asset Management user roles

Role

Description

Asset manager

Manages assets throughout their lifecycle.

Other asset users take on one or more of
the other roles, depending on their
responsibilities.

Business manager

Manages the business needs of the

organization.

Configuration auditor

Audits CIs in the CMDB against the

physical items.

Financial manager

Responsible for managing asset costs.

IT support

People who deploy and maintain assets. It

also refers to people who provide support
within the change management, incident
management, and problem management
processes.

Manager

Someone in a managerial role, but not

necessarily an asset manager or a business
manager.

Asset Management

23

BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management
Table 3-A: Asset Management user roles (Continued)

Role

Description

Purchasing

Responsible for procuring assets.

Receiving

Responsible for receiving incoming assets.

Requester

Someone requesting an asset. This could

be a member of IT staff, or anyone in the
organization.

System

Some steps of the process are completed

by the system without manual
intervention.

Service support, service delivery, and

other related processes

Includes databases and other ITSM

processes that interact with the asset
management process, including:
!

!
!
!
!
!

Asset management (and specific

processes within asset management)
CMDB
Change management
Configuration management
Incident management
Problem management

This section describes the Asset Management processes and user roles. For
information about using the application, see the BMC Remedy Asset
Management 7.0 Users Guide.

24 Chapter 3Asset Management

White Paper

Overview
The asset management process flow describes the lifecycle of the asset.
Figure 3-A: Asset lifecycle overview
Version reviews

Schedule definitions

Cost
management

Contract
management

Procurement

Asset retirement

Software license
management

Asset
maintenance and
CMDB updates

Change
Managment

Configuration
Management

Overview

25

BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

The asset lifecycle starts with procurement and ends with retirement of the
asset. The change management process determines when assets are procured
and can control when they are retired. When an asset is retired, the
configuration management process updates the CMDB.
Between procurement and retirement, the asset management includes the
following repeating processes:
!

Cost management

Contract management

Software license management

Asset maintenance and CMDB updates

Version reviews and schedule definitions apply to the entire lifecycle of

assets. Version reviews indicate the review of hardware and software
versions.
Schedule definitions indicate production scheduling. These include
definitions for the following schedules and windows:
!

Blackout windowsUsed by asset management, this is the time when a CI

must not be brought down. For example, the server used by payroll might
have a blackout window when paychecks are processed. This is stored in a
time segment. This is used by supporting products, such as Change
Management.

Maintenance windowsUsed by asset management, these indicate the

best time to bring down a system for work. They are stored in time
segments. When a CI is available, it is available for outages (for example,
to perform maintenance). In the maintenance window, when a CI is
unavailable, it is unavailable for outages. This process is used by
supporting products, such as Change Management.

Maintenance schedulesThese determine how often maintenance

should occur. For example, a particular computer system might need
monthly or annual maintenance. If the maintenance requires bringing
down the system, the maintenance window and blackout window
determine when the CI can and cannot be brought down to perform the
work. The maintenance schedules generate a change request to schedule
maintenance.

Audit schedulesUsed by asset management, these are not stored in time

segments. The audit schedule generates a change request to schedule the
audit.

26 Chapter 3Asset Management

White Paper

ITSM also includes the following features to account for CI availability:

!

Scheduled outagesUsed by change management, a CI is brought down

and unavailable to users during this time. This should happen within a
maintenance window.

Schedule of changesUsed by change management, scheduled changes

might not include down time, for example if the CI can be running during
the change. It is not stored in time segments.

Unscheduled outagesIncident management can indicate CI

unavailability, which indicates that a CI is unavailable or partially
unavailable to users. These are not tracked as scheduled items.

Details
Because of the overall flow of the asset management processes, the individual
flows are not assigned to numbered stages.
This section includes the following process flows:
!

Procurement on page 28

Cost management, which consists of:

!

Cost managementchargebacks on page 30

Cost managementcost capture on page 31

Cost managementdepreciation on page 32

Contract management on page 33

Software license management, which consists of:

Software license managementlicense compliance on page 35

Software license managementnew contracts on page 37

Software license managementdeployment on page 38

Asset maintenance and CMDB updates, which consists of:

!

Asset maintenance and CMDB updatesscheduled maintenance on

page 39

Asset maintenance and CMDB updatesscheduled audits on

page 40

Asset maintenance and CMDB updatesreview health on page 41

Details

27

BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management
!

Asset retirement on page 42

Version reviews on page 43

Schedule definitions, which consists of:

!

Schedule definitionsmaintenance windows on page 44

Schedule definitionsblackout windows on page 45

Schedule definitionsmaintenance schedules on page 46

Schedule definitionsaudit schedules on page 47

Procurement
The procurement process starts the asset lifecycle. In this stage, a requester
initiates the process. The process continues with input from purchasing,
receiving, and management until the order is either closed or canceled.
Figure 3-B: Procurement
No

1. Initiate
order

2. Check
inventory

8. Price line
items

Manager

Receiving

Purchasing

Requester/ IT
support

Yes

3. Inventory
exists?

No

4. Generate
purchase
requisition

5. Managed in
CMDB?

12. Move to
inventory or
manually
deploy

6. Manually
deploy

9. Generate
order and
send to vendor

Order
closed

Yes

10. Receive
order
No

Yes

7. Approve
purchase?

System

No

Order
canceled

13. Change
request
already
created?

11. Need to
deploy
CI?

Service support,
service delivery,
and other related
processes

Yes

28 Chapter 3Asset Management

Yes

Order
Closed

Change
Management

No

14. Generate
change
request
for deployment

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1 The requester initiates the order.

2 The IT support checks inventory.
3 IT support determines whether the item is in inventory.

If the item is in inventory, a purchase order is not created.

4 If the item is not available, the requester generates a purchase order.

The process continues with step 7.

5 If the item is available, IT support evaluates whether the item is managed by

the CMDB.
Items managed by the CMDB are controlled by the change management
process. For items managed by the CMDB, the process continues with
step 13.
6 If the item is not managed by the CMDB and is in inventory, IT support

deploys the item.

For example, if mice are managed as bulk items in inventory, but not
managed by the CMDB, after checking inventory, IT support takes the
mouse out of inventory without further interaction with the application.
7 When a purchase order is created, it is sent to a manager for approval.

If the manager does not approve the purchase order, the order is canceled.
8 If the purchase order is approved, purchasing prices the line items.
9 Purchasing generates an order and sends it to the vendor.
10 When the order arrives, receiving processes the item.
11 The system determines whether the item must be deployed as a CI.
12 If the item is not deployed as a CI, it is either moved to inventory or manually

deployed, completing the order process.

13 If the item is deployed as a CI and managed by the CMDB, the system

determines whether a change request has been created for the item.
If a change request has been created, the change management process
manages deployment of the CI, and the order is completed.
14 Otherwise, the system creates the change request, which is managed by the

change management process.

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BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

Cost managementchargebacks
The financial manager, with feedback from the business managers, performs
the chargeback process of cost management.

Financial
manager

IT support

Figure 3-C: Cost managementchargebacks

1. Intiate periodic
chargeback
procedure

2. Verify cost
center
definitions

3. Generate
chargeback
charges

4. Generate
preliminary
reports

6. Make
adjustments

Send to business

7. Generate
final
reports

8. Close
chargeback
period

Chargeback
records
locked

Business
managers

No

5.
Adjustments
needed?

Service support,
service delivery,
and other related
processes

System

Yes

1 The financial manager initiates the periodic chargeback procedure.

2 The financial manager verifies the cost center definitions.
3 The financial manager generates the chargeback charges.
4 The financial manager generates the preliminary reports.

These reports are sent to the business manager to review.

5 The business manager analyzes the reports and determines if any

adjustments to the charge back charges are needed.

6 If an adjustment is needed, the financial manager makes the adjustment, then

returns to step 3.

30 Chapter 3Asset Management

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7 If no adjustments are required, the financial manager generates the final

reports.
8 The financial manager then closes the chargeback period.

After the chargeback period is closed, the chargeback records are locked.

Cost managementcost capture

In this process, IT support captures costs based on reports from the incident
management, problem management, change management, and
configuration management processes.

IT support

Figure 3-D: Cost managementcost capture

Service support,
service delivery,
and other related
processes

System

Business
managers

Financial
manager

Capture costs

Incident
Management

Problem
Management

Change
Management

Configuration
Management

Details

31

BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

Cost managementdepreciation
The asset manager defines the terms of depreciation, which run
automatically by the system.

1. Define
depreciation
method and
timeframe

Business
managers

Financial
manager

Asset Manager

Figure 3-E: Cost managementdepreciation

System

Until fully depreciated

Service support,
service delivery,
and other related
processes

2. Amitorize over time

1 The asset manager determines which method of depreciation to use and the

timeframe over which to use it.

2 The asset is amortized over the specified timeframe.

The amortization continues regularly until the asset is fully depreciated.

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Contract management
In this process, the asset manager oversees the purchase and renewal of
contracts with providers, with approval by the business manager. This is an
iterative process for each contract. The interval at which the process repeats
depends on the length of the given contract.
Figure 3-F: Contract management

New
contract

1. Negotiate
terms with
provider

2. Business
approval(*)

Yes

3. Purchase
contract

4. Relate to
appropriate CIs

Asset manager

No

Time passes (length of contract - X)

Notify asset
manager for
expiration of
contracts

Renew
contract

1. Negotiate
terms with
provider

2. Business
approval(*)

Yes

3. Purchase
contract

4. Relate
extension to
original
contract

No

Business
manager

Time passes (length of contract - X)

Service support,
service delivery,
and other related
processes

(*) Approve
contract

CMDB

Contract management includes both processes for both new and renewed
contracts.

New contract process

1 The asset manager negotiates the terms of the new contract with the

provider.
2 The asset manager seeks business approval from the business manager.

If the terms are not acceptable, the asset manager returns to step 1 to
renegotiate the terms.

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33

BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

3 If the business manager approves the terms, the asset manager purchases the

contract from the provider.

4 The asset manager relates the contract to the appropriate CIs and makes sure

this is recorded in the CMDB.

After the passage of time (equivalent to the length of the contract minus the
period of time required to renegotiate), the asset manager is notified that a
given contract is about to expire, which triggers the contract renewal process.

Contract renewal process

The contract renewal process starts when the asset manager is notified of
contracts about to expire.
1 The asset manager negotiates the terms of the contract renewal with the

provider.
2 The asset manager seeks business approval from the business manager.

If the terms are not acceptable, the asset manager returns to step 1 to
renegotiate the terms.
3 If the business manager approves the terms, the asset manager purchases the

contract from the provider.

4 The asset manager relates the extended contract to the original contract.

After the passage of time (equivalent to the length of the contract minus the
period of time required to renegotiate) the asset manager is notified that a
given contract is about to expire, and the process returns to step 1.

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Software license managementlicense compliance

In this process, the asset manager manages software license compliance.
Figure 3-G: Software license managementlicense compliance
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The software license compliance process is initiated when software is

deployed or removed.
1 The asset manager checks against the definitive software library (DSL) to

determine whether a contract is required.

This step can be performed by the system.
2 The asset manager or the system determine whether a contract is required.

If no contract is required, the process ends.

3 If a contract is required, the Asset Manager links the CI to the software

contract.
4 The system decrements the number of available licenses remaining.

Details

35

BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

5 The asset manager determines whether the organization is still in compliance

with the license agreement.

If there are sufficient licenses, the process ends.
If the organization is no longer in compliance, the asset manager continues
the process to resolve the compliance issue.
6 The asset manager determines utilization of the software.

Tools, such as BMC Discovery Configuration, monitor software usage. The

asset manager can use information from this tool to determine utilization.
7 Based on utilization, the asset manager determines whether licenses are

available to be harvested.
8 If all licenses are in use, the asset manager purchases a new license.

The asset manager follows the new contract process to purchase the new
license, and then deploys the license by following the deployment process.
9 If licenses are available to be harvested, the asset manager generates an RFC

to harvest the licenses.

The asset manager can use tools, such as BMC Configuration Discovery, to
measure which licenses are unused or least used. This data is helpful in
deciding which licenses to harvest. The change management process
manages the request.
10 The software is removed according to policy.

BMC Configuration Management can be used to remove software according

to policy.

36 Chapter 3Asset Management

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Software license managementnew contracts

In this process, the asset manager manage new software license contracts.

New contract
process

1. Negotiate
contract

2. Purchase
contract

3. Define who
is authorized to
have the
software

Service support,
service delivery,
and other related
processes

System

Asset Manager

Figure 3-H: Software license managementnew contracts

Sofware license
management: license
compliance

Sofware license
management:deployment

The new contract process is initiated by the software license compliance

process.
1 The asset manager negotiates the contract.
2 The asset manager purchases the contract.
3 The asset manager defines who is authorized to have the software.

At this point, the asset manager can deploy the software.

Details

37

BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

Software license managementdeployment

The asset manager performs the software deployment process.

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The deployment process is initiated by the new contract process.

1 The asset manager generates an RFC to deploy new software.

The change management process manages the request.

2 The asset manager deploys the software based on the policy defined by the

contract.
BMC Configuration Management can be used to automate this step.
At this point, the asset manager performs license compliance.

38 Chapter 3Asset Management

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Asset maintenance and CMDB updatesscheduled maintenance

IT support performs maintenance in response to system activity and other
processes.

Asset Manager

Figure 3-J: Asset maintenance and CMDB updatesscheduled maintenance

Service support,
service delivery,
and other related
processes

System

IT Support

2. Perform
maintenance

Scheduled
maintenance

1. Generate RFC
to schedule
maintenance time

3. Set schedule
for next
maintenance

Update CMDB
(if appropriate)

Change
Management

Configuration
Management

1 When scheduled maintenance is set to occur, the system generates an RFC to

schedule maintenance time.

The change management process schedules the maintenance activity.
2 IT support performs maintenance.

If an update to the CMDB is required as a result of maintenance, the change

management process evaluates the update, and the configuration
management process performs the update.
3 When maintenance is complete, the system sets the schedule for the next

maintenance.

Details

39

BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

Asset maintenance and CMDB updatesscheduled audits

IT support performs scheduled audits in response to system activity and
other processes.

Asset Manager

Figure 3-K: Asset maintenance and CMDB updatesscheduled audits

IT Support

2. Perform audit
(details in
Configuration
Management)

3. Set schedule
for next audit

1. Generate RFC
to schedule audit

Service support,
service delivery,
and other related
processes

System

Scheduled
audits

Change
Management

Configuration
Management

1 When a scheduled audit is set to occur, the system generates an RFC to

schedule an audit.
The change management process schedules the audit activity.
2 IT support performs the audit.

For details, see Configuration audit and verification on page 20.

3 When the audit activity is successfully completed, the system sets the

schedule for the next audit.

40 Chapter 3Asset Management

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Asset maintenance and CMDB updatesreview health

The asset manager reviews the health of assets and the CMDB. The asset
manager can review reports from incident management. If incidents are
recorded against an asset, this might be a symptom that the asset should be
upgraded, replaced, or retired.

Review health

1. Review
incidents for
trouble areas

2. Asset
solution
known?

Yes

3. Generate RFC
as appropriate to
correct issues

IT Support

Asset Manager

Figure 3-L: Asset maintenance and CMDB updatesreview health

Service support,
service delivery,
and other related
processes

System

No

Problem
Management

Change
Management

Incident Management

1 The asset manager reviews incidents for assets that have issues.
2 The asset manager determines whether the solution is known.

If the solution is not known, the asset manager creates a problem

investigation, to be resolved by the Problem Management process.
3 If the solution is known, the asset manager generates an RFC to correct the

issue.
The change management process completes the change.

Details

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BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

Asset retirement
The asset manager retires assets, as initiated by the change management
process.

Initiate retirement
(must come from
change)

Service support,
service delivery,
and other related
processes

System

Asset manager

Figure 3-M: Asset retirement

Change
Management

42 Chapter 3Asset Management

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Version reviews
The asset manager performs reviews of software and hardware versions. For
example, if support ends for a particular version of a product, the asset
manager analyzes the exposure and plans for changes.

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Figure 3-N: Version reviews

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1 The asset manager runs reports to review existing versions.

2 The asset manager generates upgrade plans for systems as they grow older.
3 The asset manager discusses plans with the business.
4 The asset manager generates RFCs and purchase orders to implement

upgrade plans.
RFCs are handled by the change management process. Purchase orders are
handled by the asset management procurement process.

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BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

Schedule definitionsmaintenance windows

The asset manager defines maintenance windows. Maintenance windows
indicate the best time to bring down a system for work.

Define
maintenance
windows

1. Work with business to

determine when
maintenance can occur

2. Create maintenance window

definition and relate to appropriate
CIs

Service support,
service delivery,
and other related
processes

System

Asset manager

Figure 3-O: Schedule definitionsmaintenance windows

CMDB

1 The asset manager works with business to determine when maintenance can

occur.
2 The asset manager creates the maintenance window definition and relates it

to the appropriate CIs.

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Schedule definitionsblackout windows

The asset manager defines blackout windows. A blackout window is the time
when a CI must not be brought down. For example, the server used by
payroll might have a blackout window when paychecks are processed.
In an asset blackout schedule, when a CI is available, it is available for outages
(for example, to perform maintenance). In the asset blackout schedule, when
a CI is unavailable, it is unavailable for outages.

Define blackout
windows

1. Work with business to

determine when changes
cannot occur to CIs or
groups of CIs

2. Create blackout window

definition and relate to appropriate
CIs

Service support,
service delivery,
and other related
processes

System

Asset manager

Figure 3-P: Schedule definitionsblackout windows

CMDB

1 The asset manager works with business to determine when changes cannot

occur to CIs or groups of CIs.

2 The asset manager creates a blackout window definition and relates it to the

appropriate CIs.

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BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

Schedule definitionsmaintenance schedules

The asset manager defines maintenance schedules. Maintenance schedules
determine how often maintenance should occur.

Define
maintenance
schedules

1. Work with vendors and

IT staff to determine how
often maintenance should
occur

2. Create maintenance schedules,

and the appropriate change
templates

3. Relate maintenance
schedules to the
appropriate CIs

Service support,
service delivery,
and other related
processes

System

Asset manager

Figure 3-Q: Schedule definitionsmaintenance schedules

CMDB

1 The asset manager works with vendors and IT staff to determine how often

maintenance should occur.

2 The asset manager creates maintenance schedules, and the appropriate

change templates.
3 The asset manager relates the maintenance schedules to the appropriate CIs.

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Schedule definitionsaudit schedules

The asset manager, working together with IT staff and the business, defines
audit schedules.

2. Create audit schedules and the

appropriate change templates to
track the audit tasks, and schedule
the audit

Define audit
schedules

3. Relate audit schedule

to the appropriate CIs

1. Determine when to
have periodic audits
of systems

Service support,
service delivery,
and other related
processes

IT staff and
business

Asset manager

Figure 3-R: Schedule definitionsaudit schedules

CMDB

1 IT staff and the business determine when to have periodic audits of systems.
2 The asset manager creates audit schedules and the appropriate change

templates to track the audit tasks, and schedules the audit.

3 The asset manger relates the audit schedule to the appropriate CIs.

Details

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BMC Best Practice Process Flows for Asset Management and ITIL Configuration Management

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