What does "configuration management" involve?

Configuration management involves maintaining and managing the configuration of infrastructure and services consistently. This practice is crucial in IT environments, as it ensures that all components of a system are properly documented, organized, and controlled. By adhering to configuration management principles, organizations can establish streamlined processes for tracking changes, maintaining consistency, and ensuring that systems are compliant with required standards and regulations.

In this context, configuration management allows teams to manage configuration items effectively, including hardware, software, and documentation. It aids in minimizing risks associated with changes, enhances system reliability, and supports troubleshooting through thorough documentation of existing configurations. Ultimately, this approach leads to more efficient operations and better service delivery.

The other options do not accurately describe the essence of configuration management. For instance, creating new services without documentation can lead to inconsistencies and lacks governance, while removing old configurations without notice jeopardizes system integrity and can introduce errors. Establishing service-level agreements, though important in service management, pertains more to defining expectations between service providers and customers rather than managing configurations.