ITIL4F ITIL Management Practices Practice Question
A Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is maintained by which practice?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse IT Asset Management with Service Configuration Management because both deal with tracking IT resources, but ITAM focuses on financial lifecycle and ownership (e.g., cost, contract, depreciation) while Service Configuration Management focuses on technical relationships and configuration control (e.g., CI dependencies, versioning).
Answer choices
Why each option matters
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 Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is the central repository for storing and managing configuration records (CIs) and their relationships. This is the core responsibility of the Service Configuration Management practice, which ensures that accurate and reliable information about CIs is available to support other service management processes.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Monitoring and Event Management
Why it's wrong here
Monitoring and Event Management primarily focuses on systematically observing services and service components, recording and reporting selected changes of state. While it generates data that might indicate a need for a CMDB update (e.g., a component failure or performance degradation), its core responsibility is not the ongoing identification, control, or verification of configuration items within the CMDB itself. This practice consumes CMDB data to understand the context of events but does not perform the structured maintenance tasks.
- ✗
Service Desk
Why it's wrong here
The Service Desk serves as the single point of contact between the service provider and users, handling incidents and service requests. While Service Desk agents frequently consult the CMDB to quickly identify affected configuration items, understand service relationships, and diagnose issues, their operational role does not include the formal processes of updating, auditing, or verifying the accuracy of configuration item records. Their interaction is primarily as a consumer of CMDB information.
- ✓
Service Configuration Management
Why this is correct
Service Configuration Management is the dedicated practice responsible for ensuring that accurate and reliable information about the configuration of services and the CIs that support them is available when and where needed. This includes planning, identifying, controlling, recording, reporting, and verifying all configuration items and their relationships. The CMDB is the central repository for this critical information, and its integrity and maintenance are direct responsibilities of this practice.
- ✗
IT Asset Management
Why it's wrong here
IT Asset Management (ITAM) focuses on maximizing the value of IT assets throughout their lifecycle, from procurement to disposal, considering financial, contractual, and inventory aspects. While some IT assets may also be configuration items, ITAM's primary objective is not the detailed mapping of technical configurations and relationships required for service delivery. ITAM manages assets like licenses, warranties, and financial depreciation, which are distinct from the configuration details tracked in a CMDB.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 805 original ITIL4F practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This ITIL4F practice question is part of Courseiva's free PeopleCert certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the ITIL4F exam.