An explanation of configuration management

In this video, TechTarget editor Jen English talks about configuration management and how it is used within the enterprise.

Configuration management controls the chaos behind the scenes -- and inside the server racks -- of a business.

Any given business, no matter how small or large, is powered by a multitude of processes, technologies and services. And ultimately, all of these activities impact one another -- and the business. That's where configuration management comes in.

Configuration management is the process of tracking and controlling IT resources across an enterprise. Its goal is to help administrators and developers understand how changes to one resource or process will impact another. This understanding -- and control -- is vital for a business's compliance and governance efforts.

Here, we'll go over the basics of configuration management and how it's changed over the years.

Configuration management, or CM, is difficult to define conclusively, as its parameters change as technology and compliance measures change.

The concept of CM was first introduced in the '60s, when the military instituted standards for hardware management. That basic CM model was then adapted for other technical disciplines, and eventually adopted as a central part of the IT Infrastructure Library, or ITIL framework, in the '80s when data centers became larger and more geographically distributed.

The shift from mainframes to racks upon racks of servers in the '90s gave way to an explosion in the amount of hardware and devices a business now had to keep track of and manage.

Regardless of the era, the concept of CM remains: to identify, record and verify all items in any IT system -- physical or otherwise -- and the relationships between them.

From its earliest implementations, CM has served four key benefits:

• Compliance. While CM alone doesn't demonstrate regulatory compliance, it shows that a business has a mechanism in place to discover, preserve, enforce and audit its infrastructure.
• Consistency. With hundreds of servers, network switches, storage devices and applications, IT staff and business leaders need to make sure everything is configured in a known and acceptable way -- CM provides that baseline.
• Service delivery. Related to consistency, service delivery ensures that services provided by IT are available, reliable and secure.
• Security. From login credentials to mandated password changes to network subnetting, CM organizes security information, supporting an organization's overall security practices.  

And, while the benefits of CM are proven, the technology isn't perfect, and it can pose challenges, like: 

• Demands on staff. CM requires staff to identify and document each item in an environment and manage that data over time as hardware and software evolve.
• Compatibility with older systems. Old equipment that isn't discoverable by newer CM platforms or tools will require more manual work or documentation, which can cause errors and oversights.
• Access and security. Sensitive information handled during configuration management needs to be both accessible and secure, so establishing access can be a difficult task.
• The evolution of data center tech. Like virtual machines, containers and cloud instances -- leading to mistakes in defining configurations and opening the door for new security risks and sprawl.

Configuration management practices continue to evolve as technology does -- for instance, embracing remote resources and services. 

What other technologies do you see impacting configuration management? Share your thoughts [at Eye on Tech] and remember to like and subscribe, too.

Meredith Courtemanche has more than 10 years of experience at TechTarget Editorial, covering software development, DevOps, data centers and other technologies.