ITIL4F ITIL Management Practices Practice Question
An IT team is reviewing the configuration baseline of a service to understand what has changed since the last release. Which practice is primarily involved?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse 'tracking changes' with Change Enablement, but Change Enablement manages the process of approving changes, while Service Configuration Management is the practice that actually records and compares the configuration states.
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
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Service Configuration Management
The configuration baseline is a snapshot of the service's configuration at a specific point in time, used as a reference for comparison. Service Configuration Management (SCM) is the practice responsible for maintaining configuration baselines and tracking all changes to Configuration Items (CIs) within the Configuration Management Database (CMDB). Therefore, when the team needs to understand what has changed since the last release, SCM is the primary practice involved, as it provides the historical records and comparison capabilities.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
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Service Configuration Management
Why this is correct
Service Configuration Management is the practice of ensuring that accurate and reliable information about the configuration of services and the CIs that support them is available when and where it is needed. This includes managing configuration baselines, which are snapshots of a configuration at a specific point in time, used for comparison, restoration, and as a known good state. Reviewing these baselines is a core activity within this practice to maintain service integrity and control.
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Change Enablement
Why it's wrong here
Change Enablement focuses on maximizing the number of successful service and product changes by ensuring risks are properly assessed, authorizing changes, and managing the change schedule. While changes *affect* configuration baselines, Change Enablement itself does not manage or review the baselines directly; its role is to facilitate and control the *process* of making changes, not the configuration items themselves.
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Deployment Management
Why it's wrong here
Deployment Management is the practice responsible for moving new or changed hardware, software, documentation, processes, or any other component to live environments. Its primary objective is to successfully deploy components into the live infrastructure, ensuring they are available for use. Reviewing configuration baselines is a foundational activity that *precedes* or *informs* deployment, but it is not the core function of the deployment practice itself.
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Release Management
Why it's wrong here
Release Management is the practice of making new and changed services and features available for use. It involves planning, scheduling, and controlling the movement of releases to test and live environments, ensuring that all components of a release work together effectively. While a release will *result* in changes to configuration items, Release Management does not directly manage or review the configuration baselines themselves; it orchestrates the delivery of value.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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