Importance of software configuration management process

It simultaneously maintains the current state of the software called the baseline, while enabling developers to work on new versions for features or fixes. This document is often part of the project quality management plan. The output of a software process is information that may be divided into three broad categories. Special configuration management software is available, such as bmc software s atrium and hewlett packard enterprises universal configuration management database. Configuration management deals with the state of any given infrastructure or software system at any given time. Good leaders in the tech space will want to know what it takes to implement it. As a broader subject, configuration management cm refers to the process of systematically handling changes to a system in a way that it maintains integrity over time. Software configuration management encompasses the disciplines and techniques of initiating, evaluating, and controlling change to software products during and after the development process. It started as a technical management discipline and has been widely adopted by many other engineering disciplines, including systems engineering and software engineering. Configuration management cm is a systems engineering process for.

Cm is a collection of competencies, techniques and tools whose purpose is to ensure the consistency of the systems requirements, functional attributes and physical properties. It is based on the information technology infrastructure technology library itil and adapted to address vuits specific requirements. Pdf importance of configuration management researchgate. Even if we decide not to use a formal change control process, it would be helpful to know who made a change and why after the fact, and so requirements change. Software configuration management plans wieee 1042. Without configuration management in place, it is virtually impossible to fully comprehend the impact of changes to an environment. Software engineering software confriguration management. Today there is a much broader understanding in the software industry of the importance of quality assurance and, therefore, also of configuration management. Scm practices include revision control and the establishment of baselines. Change management, in contrast, deals with how changes are made to those configurations. To explain the importance of software configuration management. Configuration management and change management are two closely related but different terms.

What is configuration management in project management. Configuration management cm is a set of processes and procedures that ensures that your business system is understood and works correctly. Sep 12, 2019 configuration management is an increasingly important foundation for a successful tech platform. The importance of configuration management posted on june 5, 2017june 5, 2017by admin admin configuration management cmfocuses on establishing and maintaining consistency of a products performance, and its functional and physical attributes with its requirements, design, and operational information throughout its life. Configuration management cm is a set of processes and procedures that ensures. Configuration management cm is a technic of identifying, organizing, and controlling modification to software being built by a programming team. What is the configuration management process and why its.

Guenter teubner 154 software engineering fall 1998 4 what is software configuration management v definition. If something goes wrong, scm can determine what was changed and who changed it. Even though this process was not originated in the it industry, the term is broadly used to refer to server configuration management. Top 10 challenges for change and configuration management. Configuration management focuses on establishing, and maintaining, the consistency of a system or product throughout its lifetime. The software configuration management scm process is. What is the importance of software configuration management. This allows administrators to monitor and manage policy violations which could represent a breach. Configuration management has its roots in the us department of defence in the 1950s. What is configuration management and why is it important.

Scm is the process of identifying and defining the items in the system, controlling the. Software configuration management scm is the discipline for systematically controlling the changes that take place during development. Cm streamlines the delivery of software and applications by automating the build out of systems quickly and efficiently. Cm is the application of sound program practices to establish and maintain consistency of a products or systems attributes with its requirements and evolving technical baseline over its life. The objective is to maximize productivity by minimizing mistakes errors. You receive a certificate of completion after successfully completing this course. Configuration management schedules describes the general cm activities schedule. Guide to software configuration management forward. Software configuration management scm question and. Software configuration management in software engineering. Software configuration management is a process to systematically manage, organize, and control the changes in the documents, codes, and other entities during the software development life cycle. In software engineering, software configuration management scm or sw cm is the task of tracking and controlling changes in the software, part of the larger crossdisciplinary field of configuration management.

The software configuration management process traces changes and verifies. Uml, software modelling, systems engineering and process development. Configuration management cm is an area in software development and engineering that generally gets some what less attention than it really needs. What are the reasons why software configuration management is.

Software configuration management is a process to systematically manage, organize, and control the changes in the documents, codes, and. Jun 05, 2017 the importance of configuration management posted on june 5, 2017 june 5, 2017 by admin admin configuration management cm focuses on establishing and maintaining consistency of a products performance, and its functional and physical attributes with its requirements, design, and operational information throughout its life. The primary goal is to increase productivity with minimal mistakes. Configuration management has its roots in the us department of. It can be used for the process of identifying, tracking, and managing of all the physical assets of a project. An introduction to configuration management digitalocean. The software configuration management process traces changes and verifies that the software has all of the planned changes that are supposed to be included in a new release. Often the code you work with isnt yours so you have to keep track of all the changes otherwise itll almost be impossible to add anything new to the software and the number of defects would explode. A configuration management plan details how you will record, track, control, and audit configuration. Configuration management determines clearly about the items that make up the software or system. Software configuration management software configuration management scm is the process of identifying and defining the scis in the system and coordinating the changes made to these items a formal definition.

Scm is the control of the evolution of complex systems, for the purpose to contribute to satisfying quality and delay constraints. Understand the tasks in the software configuration scm process, so that they can be planned for in a software project. We can also consider configuration management a part of a systems engineering process that. The program manager pm is responsible configuration management cm on their project or program. Cm is used to essential due to the inventory management, library management, and updation management of the items essential.

What configuration management is and where it originated from. Software testing configuration management cm is a systems engineering process for establishing and maintaining consistency of a products performance, functional, and physical attributes with its requirements, design, and operational information throughout its life. Nov 12, 2007 there are two meanings for the project management process of configuration management. What is configuration management and how does it work. The role of software configuration management and capability maturity model in system quality. It includes four procedures that should be defined for each software project to ensure that a reliable software configuration management process is utilized. A configuration management effort, is a business value driven effort that employs a governance process around the operational area, and has a tool, the cmdb, to support its mission. It is abbreviated as the scm process in software engineering. Configuration management plan maintenance the cmp will be updated as per the wbs. Configuration management is also critical for day to day reliability, performance and security of the product or solution. Software configuration management scm is the process of identifying and defining the scis in the system and coordinating the changes made to these items a formal definition. Software configuration management scm is a set of processes, policies, and tools that organizes the development process. The configuration management process is comprised of 5 disciplines that will establish a products baseline, and manage any changes over time.

Change and configuration management of requirements. If something goes wrong, scm can determine what was. Configuration management cm is a systems engineering process for establishing and maintaining consistency of a products performance, functional, and physical attributes with its requirements, design, and operational information throughout its life. This chapter is the updated version of the software configuration management scm generally accepted knowledge to be used as a consistent view of this software engineering topic worldwide. Software configuration management scm a practical guide. Pdf the role of software configuration management and. Configuration management cm is a systems engineering process for establishing and maintaining consistency of a products performance, functional, and physical attributes with its requirements.

A fivestep model for configuration management techrepublic. Software configuration management scm process and procedure. Time is of the essence during any response, so the ability to provide deeper detail via drill down then provide information to an incident response process is critical. Configuration management resources describes the cm organizational products, tools, support environment, personnel, and training. Why configuration management should be applied to your business. Software configuration management is a process independent of the development process largely because most development models cannot accommodate change at any time during development. Configuration management is an increasingly important foundation for a successful tech platform. Configuration management focuses on establishing, and maintaining, the consistency of a system or. This document provides a practical guide for integrating software configuration management disciplines into the management of software engineering projects. The importance of configuration management c2s consulting group. Computer programs both source level and executable work products that describe the computer programs targeted at both technical and end users data contained within the program or. It emphasizes the importance of configuration control in managing software production. Aug 19, 2016 the benefits of configuration management posted. Explain the importance of software configuration management scm, the scm process, and how to plan for scm.

A configuration management process and its supporting repository, cmdb or cms, face the challenge of overlapping and contradicting data from sources across the enterprise. Configuration management is an increasingly important foundation for a. Cm is essential as it can help manage every part of your business whether it is the work flow for designing and manufacturing products. Scm is the process of identifying and defining the items in the system, controlling the change of these items throughout their life cycle, recording and reporting the status of items and change requests, and verifying the completeness and correctness of items ieee. Continuous integration is the process of bringing separate software. Software configuration management is the process of identifying and defining the software configuration items in a system, controlling the release and change of these items throughout the.

There are five key steps to project configuration management. Dec 19, 2016 configuration management process 4 introduction this document describes the configuration management process and configuration management database cmdb data dictionary that is implemented in cherwell. The security configuration management process is complex. Identification this is the specification of all it components configuration items and their inclusion in a configuration management database cmdb. Consequently, change and configuration management of requirements is still an important element of agile projects and the use of software tools to help with it can be greatly beneficial.

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