EMA Blog: Business Intelligence and IT Management

Articles proclaiming the death of CMDB started appearing with regularity as early as 2010. Cloud was named as the likely killer. The problem with this bit of folk wisdom is that it isn’t true.

EMA experience and field research consistently find that CMDB use not only continues but is on the rise. In a 2022 EMA initiative on the rise of ServiceOps, 400 global IT leaders stated that CMDB use was central to major functions. For many of those respondents, CMDB use was viewed as increasing in importance for automation of complex processes.  

Where is the disconnect?

On the one hand, many in the industry have begun todismiss the CMDB as well past its prime, at least in terms of industry hype and attention. For this rather significant population, the CMDB has evolved into a complex and demanding data store with tangible but difficult-to-justify benefits, with questionable relationships to cloud computing and [...]

The notion that the CMDB is now entering a “mature” phase
is naïve, and in many respects refuted by the high levels of innovation
attested to here. We are admittedly looking at toddlers learning
to walk, but what a transformation they may bring to the market, and to our
whole view of service management, as they take their first few steps!!