First-to-market application combines Web 2.0 and structured social networking principles to significantly enhance CMDB usability and accuracy

Gartner Infrastructure, Operations and Management Summit 2008, ORLANDO, Fla., - June 23, 2008 - Managed Objects, the Business Service Management (BSM) Company today announced Managed Objects myCMDBâ¿¢ - a new web-based application that heralds the next-generation in CMDB capability, usability and visualization. By integrating Web 2.0 and patent-pending structured social networking principles into the CMDB environment, myCMDB leads a new era of solutions focused upon humanizing IT. Through its personalized community-based architecture, myCMDB solves critical accuracy and accessibility issues that have compromised the success of many CMDB projects.

Today, data inaccuracy is one of the leading causes of project failure for companies implementing a CMDB. CMDBs - and their associated federated data sources - require regular and frequent maintenance to ensure that Configuration Item (CI) attribute and relationship data is accurate and up-to-date. IT and business users normally responsible for keeping the CMDB current aren’t seeing sufficient benefit, or they’re finding it too difficult to update complex CMDB attribute and relationship data, to take the time to do it on a consistent basis.

In addition, users are often faced with having to update multiple systems and repositories to ensure that CMDB data remains synchronized with associated federated data sources - sources like change and release management systems for example.

“Up to now, maintenance and synchronization tasks have fallen on the shoulders of core CMDB delivery teams, who have become sophisticated data entry clerks working to keep the CMDB accurate and up-to-date,” said Kurt Westerfeld, Chief Technology Officer for Managed Objects. “CMDB accuracy and currency should be the responsibility of a wide number of business and IT users and in particular, those federated data source owners who control the data that goes into the CMDB. For CMDB projects to be successful, they’ll need to be absolutely accurate, which means they’ll need to be fully integrated into the corporate IT and business fabric.”

Managed Objects myCMDB solves CMDB data accuracy and accessibility issues by introducing a new visualization paradigm that incorporates principles of social networking to formulate role-based “communities” where users can more easily and effectively view and interact with CMDB data - and other CMDB users as well. Each CMDB community consists of logically related CMDB data - grouped by function, role, class or geography. IT or business users subscribe to CMDB communities - usually based on their specific business responsibility. Within each community, users can quickly and intuitively search and report on CMDB information - leveraging ad hoc or bookmarked queries, as well as pre-defined reports that can be launched with a few mouse clicks. And best of all, myCMDB works with a number of CMDB systems including Managed Objects CMDB360.

“myCMDB brings a combination of Facebook interactivity, Wikipedia information quality management, and Google searching model together for the CMDB market,” said Abbas Haider Ali, Vice-President of Product Strategy for Managed Objects. “These capabilities serve to make the CMDB a more valuable, user-friendly environment which drives greater usage across a greater audience. When more users contribute to the CMDB, it naturally becomes a more accurate representation of the actual IT infrastructure.”

In addition, myCMDB introduces a sophisticated new modeling environment, called myWorkspace, where users can analyze and manipulate CMDB data - without affecting critical production configurations. Built-in governance lets users publish proposed CMDB changes while ensuring that actual CMDB updates are performed only by authorized personnel. When combined with its broad range of new pre-defined reports, myCMDB offers all users more capability and value from their CMDB investment.

“With CMDB modeling capabilities, companies can better understand the results of a scenario beyond change impact,” said Ronni Colville, Vice-President and Distinguished Analyst at Gartner. “Decision support tools that enable custom data segmentation and personalized views from a CMDB will facilitate more stakeholders to benefit from the CMDB.”

“Social networking techniques are going to revolutionize IT management, by changing the way operations users interface with both the IT infrastructure, and each other,” said Siki Giunta, President and CEO of Managed Objects. “myCMDB is not only the first-ever social networking application designed for IT, it represents the first delivery of the clearest, most concise strategic vision in the IT management industry today.”

myCMDB can be seen in the Managed Objects booth (booth U) at this year’s Gartner IT Infrastructure, Operations & Management Summit June 23rd thru June 25th in Orlando, Florida.

About Managed Objects
Managed Objects is the Business Service Management Company. Companies use our solutions to more effectively monitor, manage, and model their IT enterprise. Our unique service perspective overlays existing management tools so complex IT infrastructures can be managed, not as a set of components, but rather as the set of services that IT delivers to the business - services like order processing, e-commerce, online trading, or email. Companies that use Managed Objects realize measurable improvements in IT service quality, cost savings, and increased IT responsiveness.

A venture-backed company headquartered in McLean, Va., with operations in the U.S., Europe, and Asia Pacific, Managed Objects is consistently acknowledged by leading industry analysts as well as industry leaders like AIB, CSC, Credit Suisse, DISA, Fidelity Investments, JPMorganChase, Progress Energy, Verizon and other global organizations who rely on Managed Objects BSM technology. For more information, visit www.managedobjects.com.

All trademarks and copyrights mentioned herein are property of their respective owners.

1. 2008 Patent Pending - Managed Objects myCMDB and structured social networking technology