Configuration Management

Software Configuration Management or Configuration

Management are the practices and procedures for administering
source code, producing software development builds, controlling
change, and managing software configurations.
More specifically, SCM ensures the integrity, reliability and
reproducibility of developing software products from planning to
release.

There are five basic activities of Configuration Management:

• Planning - The Configuration Management plan should

cover the next three to six months in detail, and the
following twelve months in outline. It should be reviewed at
least twice a year and will include a strategy, policy, scope,
objectives, roles and responsibilities, the Configuration
Management processes, activities and procedures, the
CMDB, relationships with other processes and third parties,
as well as tools and other resource requirements.
• Identification - The selection, identification and labeling of
all Configuration Items (CI). This covers the recording of
information about CI's, including ownership, relationships,
versions and unique identifiers. CIs should be recorded at a
level of detail justified by the business need - typically to the
level of "independent change".
• Control - This gives the assurance that only authorized and
identifiable CIs are accepted and recorded from receipt to
disposal. It ensures that no CI is added, modified, replaced or
removed without the appropriate controlling documentation
e.g. approved RFC, updated specification. All CIs will be
under Change Management Control.
• Status Accounting - The reporting of all current and
historical data concerned with each CI throughout its life-
cycle. It enables changes to CIs and tracking of their records
through various statuses, e.g. ordered, received, under test,
live, under repair, withdrawn or for disposal.
 • Verification and Audit - This is a series of reviews and
audits that verifies the physical existence of CIs, and checks
that they are correctly recorded in the CMDB. It includes the
process of verifying Release and Configuration
documentation before changes are made to the live
environment.

Configuration management provides a mechanism for identifying,

controlling and tracking the versions of each software item. In
many cases earlier versions still in use must also be maintained
and controlled.

The [CM] system should:

a) Identify uniquely the versions of each software item;

b) Identify the versions of each software item which together
constitute a specific version of a complete product;
c) Identity the build status of software products in development
or delivered and installed;
d) Control simultaneous updating of a given software item by
more than one person;
e) Provide coordination for the updating of multiple products in
one or more locations as required;
f) Identify and track all actions and changes resulting from a
change request, from initiation to release.

Using SCM greatly reduces your risk in developing software.

The efficiencies gained from an SCM team creating and
maintaining the automated software builds and deployment
automation greatly frees the developers to do what they do
best.

Auriff Basha Ayisha Begum

B.sc ISM – 3rd Year