57086 16 configuration_management

16David Sowden, The University of Hull

57086 Contract and Project Management

David Sowden, The University of Hull

1657086 Contract and Project Management

Configuration Management

Overview

• Configuration Management– Purpose

– History

– Procedure

– Managing the configuration

– Configuration management method

– Configuration management and change control

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Purpose• Configuration Management:• is the practice of handling changes systematically so that a project maintains

its integrity over time.

• implements the policies, procedures, techniques, and tools that are required to manage, evaluate proposed changes, track the status of changes, and to maintain an inventory of system and support documents as the system changes.

• programs and plans provide technical and administrative direction to the development and implementation the procedures, functions, services, tools, processes, and resources.

• allows both the Project Manager and Project Board to track requirements throughout the project life cycle through acceptance. As changes are inevitably made to the requirements and design, they must be approved and documented, creating an accurate record of the system status.

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Purpose

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THE BASICS

Systems to allow you to track and find items easily

History

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Configuration Management is a formal management approach developed by the USAF for the US Department of Defence in the 1950s as a technical management discipline for hardware material items—and it is now a standard practice in virtually every industry

Procedure - Managing the configuration

• Configuration Management consists of five basic functions:–Planning:–Identification:–Control: –Status accounting:–Verification:

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Managing the configuration

• Configuration Management Plan will contain:– An Explanation of the purpose of configuration management– A description of (or reference to) the method being used– Reference to any configuration management systems or tools

being used– How and where the product will be stored– What filing and retrieval security there will be– How the products and the various versions of these will be

identified– Where responsibilities for configuration management lie.

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Managing the configuration

• Configuration identification, each product requires a unique identifier, as a minimum, the coding scheme should identify:– The product in which the product is created– Type of product, for example, document, hardware– Product title– Latest version number

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Configuration management method (1)• may be manual or automated, and should cover the following

functions:– Identification of individual sub-products of the final product– Identification of those products that are required in order to

produce other products– Establishing a unique coding system for each product– Identification of the ‘owner’ of a product– Identifying of whom creation or amendment of a version of a

product has be delegated– Recording, monitoring and reporting the current status of each

product as it progresses through its own life cycle– Filing all documentation produced during the development life of

the product

Configuration management method (2)• cover the following functions (continuation from previous slide):

– Retention of all master copies (within the configuration library)– Provision of procedures to ensure the safety and security aspects

of products– Distribution of copies of all product and recording of holders of

copies– Maintenance of record of relationship between products - so that

no product is changed without being able to check for possible impact on related products

– Providing administrative support for change to all products– Establishment of baselines– Performance of configuration audits

Configuration breakdown

Product A

A1 A2 A3 A4

A3.1 A3.2 A3.3

Configuration management and change controlThere must be a close liaison between configuration management and change control.

A key element is the ability to identify and control different versions of a product -

Once a product has been approved, that version of it NEVER changes

If a change is required, a new version of the product is created that will encompass the change

The change should be referenced to the relevant Project Issue

A product should not be issued for change to more that one person at a time

Where there are multiple changes, they must be combined in some way and the completion of the product encompassing all changes must be delegated to one person

This may be difficult in a large complex environment, but multiple change should be co-ordinated by one person to avoid clashes

Where possible, the master copy of any product should never be issued, only a copy.

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TASK

Review your own ‘configuration management’

systems