Configuration Management in a Nutshell

Configuration Management (CM)
What is it? (in a nutshell)

Here's my definition

Maintaining status and control of the configuration of a software system and the changes made to it.

Maintain status: Record and track -- not a snapshot but an ongoing process.

Control: Not just watching as changes go by but controlling if and when they occur.

Configuration: The aggregate of the current versions of all of the pieces of the software & documentation

Software System: A computer application including all pertinent documentation and manuals

To make a successful CM system you need to implement and document these processes:

Configuration audit and baseline process

Change request process

Change evaluation and approval process

Implementation control process

Let's look at these processes in more detail

Configuration audit and baseline process allows you to:

Uniquely identify software items and their revision levels
Create and Maintain records of system configuration at key moments
Compare existing conditions against expected; identify and deal with discrepancies

Change request process provides:

A formal method for identifying defects in software and requesting enhancements
A way to track requests from cradle to grave regardless of final disposition
A method of linking the changes in software items to reasons for those changes
Visibility and planning for resources used to implement changes

Change evaluation and approval process allows the organization to:

Prioritize changes using a visible documented process
Ensure stakeholders have a voice in prioritization and approval
Bring proper technical expertise to bear on change evaluation
Ensure management is in control of the approval process

Implementation control process will:

Ensure changes to systems occur and known times and in a controlled manner
Reduce the chance of unauthorized changes being made to the system
Allow tracing abnormal system behavior to the change which may have caused it
Improve the ability to "back out" a change which caused undesirable side-effects