Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Database
    • Networking

    Group Launches CMDB Standards Effort

    By
    Paula Musich
    -
    April 12, 2006
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Four vendors in the emerging market for enterprise-wide configuration management databases joined together to launch an effort to create a common specification for sharing configuration information across a federation of data sources.

      The four—BMC Software, IBM/Tivoli, Hewlett Packard and Fujitsu—announced April 11 their effort to create the specification and submit it to an appropriate standards body for eventual standardization.

      The goal of the effort is to take information stored in different places and in different formats about the IT infrastructure and how it is used and make it easily accessible by a federation of CMDBs.

      “Everybody needs to have an up-to-date view of the information about their IT resources, and the fact of the matter is that information is scattered today amongst the different repositories of different vendors,” said Ric Telford, vice president of autonomic computing at IBM in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

      The stimulus for the effort came from early customers who have begun CMDB projects as part of a larger effort to adopt IT management methodologies described in the IT Infrastructure Library, according to Tom Bishop, CTO at BMC Software in Houston, Texas.

      “Its such a universal problem. This was motivated by a lot of the feedback weve been given [from customers whove started implementing CMDBs],” he said.

      Without a standard way to share data among different vendors CMDBs and other tools, relevant infrastructure information has to be manually gathered. That process is labor-intensive and costly.

      “We dont have the ability to tie these elements together easily,” said Dennis Deane, head of program management for global infrastructure at DHL in Prague. DHL is working on a CMDB project that involves some 30 to 40 people.

      The group intends to keep the initial specification as simple as possible. It will focus first on the problem of federation in order to share configuration items easily between heterogeneous repositories. “We didnt want to boil the ocean,” said Bishop.

      It will draw on existing standards where applicable, such as the Distributed Management Task Forces Common Information Model.

      “If youre talking about IT resources, you dont want to reinvent descriptions of it that already exist. CIM does a good job of that,” said Telford.

      The effort may also draw on specifications such as OASIS Web Services Distributed Management as well as Microsofts Web Services Management specification.

      /zimages/3/28571.gifTo read more about HPs CMDB effort, click here.

      Although enterprise management provider CA and Microsoft are noticeably missing from the list of founding members, Bishop and Telford both expressed their desire to see those vendors join in the effort.

      “I think CA and Microsoft need to be involved, and wed like to see them involved. This is not where we should be competing. Our clear intent is to invite a set of players that can make this a meaningful industry standard,” said Bishop.

      The group, which intends to expand to other management providers as well as systems integrators and large enterprise customers, intends to submit its initial specification to an as yet determined standards body. The likely candidates are OASIS, the DMTF and the Open Group, according to Telford.

      The group hopes to have a specification ready to submit to one of those standards bodies by October or November, according to Bishop.

      “Were working on a draft white paper that outlines the scope and nature of the problem this summer,” he added.

      /zimages/3/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, reviews and analysis on IT management from CIOInsight.com.

      Paula Musich
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×