What should configuration management always be tied to?

Configuration management should always be tied to change management because these two processes are intrinsically linked in the context of managing IT systems and infrastructure. Configuration management involves maintaining updated records of the configurations of the system and its components, ensuring that they are correctly documented and tracked. Change management, on the other hand, focuses on controlling changes to the system to minimize disruption and ensure that changes are made in a systematic and authorized manner.

By integrating configuration management with change management, organizations can maintain an accurate and complete inventory of their configurations while also ensuring that any changes made to these configurations are documented, assessed for risk, approved, and processed in an orderly manner. This linkage helps organizations maintain system stability, security, and compliance, as it provides visibility into how changes affect the overall configuration and functioning of IT services.

In contrast, while options like financial management, business relationship management, and IT service management play essential roles in the broader context of IT governance, they do not have the same direct and specific relationship with configuration management as change management does. Financial management relates to budgeting and costs, business relationship management focuses on the interaction between IT and business units, and IT service management encompasses a broader set of practices for delivering IT services, but none of these directly address the operational aspects of