CyberSecurity Specialist | ITSM Consulting | IT Governance & Strategy | Project and Risk Management | Helping organizations strengthen their compliance with NCA, NIST, SDAIA,SAMA & ISO
CMDB to VMDB: Managing Value as a Core Digital Asset For years, organizations have relied on two pillars of IT management: 🧩 CMDB — the Configuration Management Database that shows how things work and connect. 💰 AMDB — the Asset Management Database that tells what things cost and who owns them. Together, they’ve provided visibility and control. But something’s still missing. 👉 Where is the data about value? Where do we track the real impact of our digital products and services? It’s time for a new kind of database — the VMDB: Value Management Database. 🚀 Why VMDB? Digital services are not just assets or configurations. They’re value enablers — designed to improve productivity, experience, and business outcomes. Yet most organizations still lack a structured way to capture, measure, and sustain that value. The VMDB fills this gap. It becomes the central system of record for value — connecting operational, financial, and business outcome data. If the CMDB answers how things work and the AMDB answers what they cost, then the VMDB answers what value they deliver — and how it evolves over time. 📊 What the VMDB Contains The VMDB records all value-related information: 🎯 Value Drivers and Expected Benefits from business cases 📈 Key Value Indicators (KVIs) — tracking proposed vs. realized value 🤝 Value Level Agreements (VLAs) — aligning expectations between stakeholders 🔁 Value Continuity Metrics — ensuring value is sustained over time 📚 A Value Register — the complete inventory of recognized value from all digital products and services Together, these form a living ecosystem of value data — measurable, transparent, and actionable. 🧭 Who Owns the VMDB? IT ensures data integrity and integration across systems. The business ensures relevance and meaning — defining what constitutes value. Together, they co-own Value Governance, ensuring the data is not just accurate but purposeful. 🔗 CMDB, AMDB, and VMDB Together These three databases form a new digital management triad: CMDB → How technology works. AMDB → What it costs. VMDB → What value it delivers. This triad finally connects service performance, financial accountability, and business outcomes — turning visibility into value. 💬 Why This Matters The VMDB brings structure to what was once intangible. It transforms “value” from a buzzword into a managed enterprise asset. By integrating the VMDB with your existing CMDB and AMDB, and linking it to your Value Register, you move from tracking costs and configurations to managing outcomes. It’s the next evolution in Enterprise Service Management — one that aligns IT and business around a single question: 👉 How much value are we really creating?
