Phase one was foundational data. Phase two was the crawl stage. Here is phase three where we talk about the Walk phase.
The third phase of CSDM implementation revolves around managing and supporting deployed infrastructure more fully. This phase often entails enhancing infrastructure management capabilities and providing reliable support services. Taking the time to address infrastructure management challenges helps organizations boost operational efficiency and reliability across their IT systems.
During the Walk stage, you begin actively managing your discovered infrastructure configuration items (CIs). At this level, the focus shifts from manual record maintenance to governed automation and service association.
The CSDM dashboard shows you information about Technical Services, Service Offerings, and Dynamic CI Groups.
A Technology Management Service is an out-of-the-box (OOB) CMDB table used to identify and represent the provider of the technology services that your business consumes. It defines who delivers and manages the underlying technical capabilities, such as hosting, storage, database, or network services, that support higher-level Application Services and Business Services within the CSDM model. The Technology Management Service acts as the link between the business and the technical provider, enabling clear accountability, ownership, and traceability of the technology services that power enterprise operations.
A Technology Management Service Offering represents a specific variant or option of a broader Technology Management Service. Each offering defines a distinct way that the underlying technology service is delivered, supported, or consumed, often differentiated by environment, geography, or service parameters.
Typical variations may include:
- Environment: Production vs. non-production
- Geography / Localization: EMEA, NA, APAC, etc.
- Pricing and Packaging: Cost tiers or bundled commitments
- Availability and SLAs: Defined service levels or uptime expectations
- Support and Change Controls: Assigned support groups for incidents and technical approval groups for changes
A Dynamic CI Group is an out-of-the-box (OOB) CMDB table used to define and maintain collections of Configuration Items (CIs) that share common characteristics or meet specific criteria. Instead of manually grouping records, these groups are dynamically generated based on filters or conditions applied to CI attributes, ensuring the membership stays current as the environment evolves.
One common use case is to create a dynamic grouping of CIs managed by a particular Technical Service Offering, allowing service owners and operations teams to:
- Monitor related CIs collectively.
- Apply governance, health, or maintenance actions at the group level.
- Support service views, dashboards, and automation tied to Technical or Application Services.
Part four will start at the Run stage.
