Difference between Asset and CI

steve277 · Newbie Joined: Nov 21, 2011 Posts: 3

What is the difference between an Asset and a CI ?

UKVIKING · Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 6:45 pm Post subject:

NO LINKS

Are you asking the question or merely posting spam ?

The rules on this forum is ask a question to get a discussion
No links
No spam

so what is the reason for the post
_________________
John Hardesty
ITSM Manager's Certificate (Red Badge)

Change Management is POWER & CONTROL. /....evil laughter

steve277 · Newbie Joined: Nov 21, 2011 Posts: 3

intended to ask a question..! thought the link might be useful

Diarmid · Posted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 8:23 pm Post subject:

An asset is something of tangible value

A CI (configuration item) is something that is part of a configuration and that it is useful to identify individually in order to manage that configuration and the uses to which it is put.

It is probable that most, if not all, assets that are in a configuration will be identified as CIs.

It is unlikely that all CIs will be assets in any meaningful way.
_________________
"Method goes far to prevent trouble in business: for it makes the task easy, hinders confusion, saves abundance of time, and instructs those that have business depending, both what to do and what to hope."
William Penn 1644-1718

UKVIKING · Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 4:29 am Post subject:

The forum does not allow links

ITILADMIN: Please remove link

So other than diarmid' answer to your question

any clarification

NOTE: All of the people on the forum - the knowledgeable ones and the new ones can and do know how to go search for things

Posting someone blog statement (yours?) about some thing in ITIL that has covered more than once between 2006 and now is rather specious
_________________
John Hardesty
ITSM Manager's Certificate (Red Badge)

Change Management is POWER & CONTROL. /....evil laughter

steve277 · Newbie Joined: Nov 21, 2011 Posts: 3

Is a workstation an Asset or a CI ?

UKVIKING · Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 8:01 pm Post subject:

Yes

Is this an exam question ?
_________________
John Hardesty
ITSM Manager's Certificate (Red Badge)

Change Management is POWER & CONTROL. /....evil laughter

Diarmid · Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2011 8:13 pm Post subject:

NO!!!!

Come on Steve! Read my first response!!

A workstation is not "an asset or a CI" because there is no exclusivity between the two. It could be both, either or neither equally logically.
_________________
"Method goes far to prevent trouble in business: for it makes the task easy, hinders confusion, saves abundance of time, and instructs those that have business depending, both what to do and what to hope."
William Penn 1644-1718

Hariharansrm · Newbie Joined: Feb 08, 2012 Posts: 2

Asset is not thing but which has Financial impact and CI which has operational impact. It is as simple as that!!

Edward_Williams · Newbie Joined: Jun 20, 2012 Posts: 4

Everything is CI because everything is connected...part of a configuration.

Diarmid · Posted: Thu Jun 21, 2012 5:35 pm Post subject:

Edward_Williams · Newbie Joined: Jun 20, 2012 Posts: 4

IF4IT · Itiler Joined: Sep 17, 2012 Posts: 30

ClearCase_Guy · Newbie Joined: Sep 27, 2014 Posts: 1

I'm working my way through the same confusion, and maybe I'm not looking at things right, but it seems less clear to me than some of these explanations would imply.

I'm in a large network environment. We are tracking the acquisition and maintenance of the network itself. Across the network, I might have a large number of network-attached storage devices. According to the design of the network, each (and every) NAS will consist of a 4-bay HW device, 4 HDD of a certain size, a certain OS and a NAS SW application.

I see assets here: the 4-bay HW device, 4 disk drives, an OS and SW. If a hard disk crashes, I swap it out with a change ticket. My expectation is that the Part Number stays the same, but the Serial Number in my CMDB will need to be updated because my network assets have changed.

Here's where I think I get confused: I see the Configuration Item as being really a virtual thing. It's defined by the architectural design of the network. My CI is the "idea" of the NAS that I just described above. It's an outgrowth of the specifications for network storage capacity. My CI is defined in a document -- sure, it could change if the needs of the network change -- larger HDD, more bays, different OS, whatever. These design changes require that the Configuration Item that is my NAS must be updated. But my CI only changes if my network needs change. On the whole, I think my CI which is a NAS is very stable.

Let's go back to my crashed hard disk. I swapped out the HDD asset, I updated the serial number in the CMDB. To my way of thinking, my CI hasn't changed at all.

Does ITIL actually define a CI in a way which allows this sort of thinking? An aggregate of HW, SW, and/or FW which is a virtual design artifact that bundles specific asset data within a CMDB, but which is not necessarily changed just because an asset is replaced with a matching asset?

I see CIs and Assets are being rather fundamentally different -- and I don't really want a hundred thousand configuration items. I don't think managing an allocated baseline is easy if I go down that road. I want a smaller number of CIs. Now, if I end up with a hundred thousand assets, that's less of a worry for me. My product baseline is inherently dynamic.

Am I missing the boat and abusing vocabulary?


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