The answer is service configuration management. An accurate CMDB directly supports this practice because service configuration management is responsible for maintaining the single source of truth for all configuration items (CIs) and their relationships, and the CMDB is the primary tool used to store and manage that data. On the ITIL 4 Foundation exam, this question tests your understanding of how practices map to their core tools and outputs—a common trap is confusing the CMDB with change enablement or incident management, which use the data but do not own it. A reliable memory tip is to think of the CMDB as the “brain” of service configuration management: without the brain, the practice cannot think, plan, or support any other ITIL practice with trustworthy configuration data.
ITIL4F Key Concepts of IT Service Management Practice Question
This ITIL4F practice question tests your understanding of key concepts of it service management. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company has implemented a new configuration management database (CMDB). Which ITIL practice is most directly supported by an accurate CMDB?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Service configuration management
The service configuration management practice is directly responsible for maintaining accurate configuration information, including the CMDB. An accurate CMDB provides the single source of truth for configuration items (CIs) and their relationships, which is the core purpose of this practice. Without a reliable CMDB, the practice cannot fulfill its objective of supporting other ITIL practices with trustworthy data.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Problem management
Why it's wrong here
Problem management uses CMDB data but is not the primary practice supported.
✗
Incident management
Why it's wrong here
Incident management uses CMDB data but is not the primary practice supported.
✗
Change enablement
Why it's wrong here
Change enablement uses CMDB for impact assessment but is not the direct practice.
✓
Service configuration management
Why this is correct
Service configuration management maintains information about configuration items and their relationships.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates confuse the tool (CMDB) with the practice (service configuration management), or they assume any practice that uses the CMDB is 'most directly supported,' when the question asks which practice is directly supported by an accurate CMDB, which is the practice that owns and maintains it.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, the CMDB stores CIs with attributes (e.g., version, location, owner) and relationships (e.g., 'is connected to', 'runs on'), which are defined in a configuration model. In a real-world scenario, an inaccurate CMDB can cause a change to fail because the impact analysis missed a dependent CI, leading to a service outage. The ITIL 4 service configuration management practice includes activities like CI identification, control, status accounting, and verification and audit to ensure data integrity.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
→Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
→Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A practitioner preparing for the ITIL4F exam encounters this exact type of scenario on the job. The correct answer here is not the most general option — it is the best answer for the specific constraint described. Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option. Real exam questions reward reading the full scenario before eliminating options, because the constraint defines which answer fits.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Key Concepts of IT Service Management — This question tests Key Concepts of IT Service Management — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Service configuration management — The service configuration management practice is directly responsible for maintaining accurate configuration information, including the CMDB. An accurate CMDB provides the single source of truth for configuration items (CIs) and their relationships, which is the core purpose of this practice. Without a reliable CMDB, the practice cannot fulfill its objective of supporting other ITIL practices with trustworthy data.
What should I do if I get this ITIL4F question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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