A business-oriented hierarchical configuration management model and its applications for fault localization and impact analysis

Abstract

The ever-increasing complexities of IT systems is bringing great challenges to IT management. Meanwhile, IT management is expanding beyond the traditional IT network management and IT service management, and spreading to business service management. Existing configuration management models for IT management solutions lack holistically presenting, managing, and leveraging the IT logical entities related to business services (such as computing services, application system, business system), relationships among these entities and traditional IT physical entities (such as networks, computers, and processes). This research studies how these entities interrelate to support business operations. We propose a business-oriented hierarchical configuration management model for describing their relationships and this model's application for fault location and impact analysis. The model and algorithms form the basis of an advanced IT management platform being built within China Mobile Communication Corporation (CMCC).