A CMDB is a database that contains all relevant information about the components of the applications used in an organization and the relationships between them. It is a map of every piece of technology a company owns: systems, routers, servers, PCs and so on. CMDB also reflects every change made to each asset and its implication to other related IT assets, as well as business services.

"The CMDB is the core of ITIL," says Christine Rose, director of global IT at Finisar, a computer hardware manufacturer that adopted ITIL in 2002. "It allows you to track your assets and gives you a running history of everything that you have done."

"But, how to build a CMDB? What should it cover?," queried Ng. "How to maintain it to ensure it's up-to-date with the ever changing business environment? These are all questions for many local CIOs."

It is not only challenging to collect and compile all the information within a CMDB, it is an upfront technical challenge to integrate the information for managing changes and tracking root problems.

This is where vendors play a major role. Recently, vendors providing IT service management software-including BMC, CA, HP and IBM-have made CMDB applications available in Hong Kong. Offering varies among vendors, but when making a purchase decision, Schiavello suggested evaluating the application's flexibility and comprehensiveness.