3. Audit and Verification

Audit and verification checks for the existence and accuracy of information contained in the CMDB against the actual asset. If any exceptions are found, the CMDB has to be updated appropriately.

In Service Manager, a Configuration Analyst can audit an item by selecting the Audit transition and adding any applicable Work Notes. The CI moves to the Audit state, where it is verified. If a discrepancy is found or a change is required, the Configuration Analyst can choose from a variety of transitions to determine what will happen to the CI:

Verify – Marks the CI as verified against the actual asset, returning the CI to the Active state.
Not Found – Marks an item as not found.
Remove – Marks an item as disposed or inactive.
Post RFC – Raises a Request for Change to fix an issue or exception found during the audit.

Note: Service Manager supports the process of auditing and verification, but the actual act of auditing or verifying a CI has to be performed by a member of the Configuration Management team.

CIs, their versions, and their changes form the basis of any configuration audit, and SBM enables you to create and run reports on these items. Service Manager provides default reports, and users can create additional reports by selecting Create Reports in the Reports pane of the SBM User Workspace.

Some of the default reports follow:

Configuration Items by State
Configuration Items by Type
Missing Configuration Items
All Laptops
All Servers