This time a much shorter post, as I've been asked to share this information recently and found that it, by itself, is already useful enough to publish. It is a conceptual data model for IT services.

The IT model, and why it is useful

A conceptual data model for IT services supports several IT processes, with a strong focus on asset management and configuration management. Many IT vendors that have solutions active within those processes will have their own data model in place, but I often feel that their models have room for improvement.

Some of these models are too fine-grained, others are limited to server infrastructure. And while most applications allow for further customization, I feel that an IT architect should have a conceptual model in mind for their actions and projects.

The conceptual data model that I'm currently working on looks as follows:

My intention is to update this CDM with new insights when I capture those. It is not my intention to further develop the data model into a physical data model, but perhaps in the long term I could make it a conceptual one (explaining what the attributes are of each concept).

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