IT visibility is the ability to have a comprehensive, real-time insight into your entire IT estate. This encompasses everything from traditional on-premises hardware and software to cloud-based services, applications and the vast array of interconnected devices known as the Internet of Things (IoT). For more information, see our glossary here.

A CMDB is a core repository that serves as a data silo in your organization, keeping all the information about your company’s IT environment. This database is purposely built to manage configuration. A CMDB offers you a central place to store data related to your IT infrastructure and configuration assets. Learn more here.

The main difference between ITAM and a CMDB is their purpose. ITAM is designed to monitor the procurement, implementation, maintenance and disposal of your IT assets, while a CMDB monitors the characteristics, associations and dependencies of configuration items, giving you a clear picture of the effect of variations and occurrences across your IT infrastructure. Learn more here.

While both terms indicate phases where support diminishes for a product, they have distinct meanings: 

• End of life (EOL): This is the date after which a product will no longer be sold or renewed. However, it might still receive some form of support, such as security patches 
• End of support (EOS): This date marks the complete cessation of all support services for the product. After this date, no new patches, updates or fixes will be released, even for critical vulnerabilities 

To learn more, see our glossary.