Abstract: The current document is directed to a meta-level management system (“MMS”) that aggregates information and functionalities provided by multiple underlying management systems in addition to providing additional information and management functionalities. In one implementation, the MMS creates and maintains a single inventory-and-configuration-management database (“ICMDB”), implemented using a graph database, to store a comprehensive inventory of managed entities known to, and managed by, the multiple underlying management systems. Each managed entity is associated with an entity identifier and is represented in the ICMBD by a node. Managed entities that are managed by two or more of the multiple underlying management systems are represented by nodes that include references to one or more namespaces.