A configuration management plan should address the responsibilities, procedures, activities, and oversight necessary to provide configuration identification, change control, status accounting and configuration audits. All the activity areas in configuration management share metadata for items placed under configuration management. Training: (+91) 9958287711 | sales@izenbridge.com, 12 – 13 December 2020 (Online) Required fields are marked *. The CM process described in the DoD-adopted standard American National Standards Institute/Electronic Industry Association (ANSI/EIA)-649, Configuration Management Standard, consists of five interrelated functions that, when collectively applied, allow the program to maintain consistency between product c… Specific responsibilities include: • Establishing and communicating the goals and objectives of Configuration Management in alignment with other IT Service Management efforts • Ensuring resources are dedicated to support the day-to-day delivery of Configuration Management • Ensuring consistent execution of the process across all IT departments. Configuration Identification Define how configuration items will be identified throughout the CM/Project life cycle. CM is the discipline of identifying and formalizing the functional and physical characteristics of a configurationconfiguration item at discrete points in the product evolution for the purpose of maintaining the integrity of the product system and controlling changes to the baselinebaseline. Labeling and numbering documents and files 2. This process controls changes to these characteristics based on CMS. Software configuration management provides structure to development steps, such as establishing baselines and reporting on the status of development processes. You can join the discussion on the same in our Forum You can also log into our YouTube channel watch the video on the configuration management. 11 Feb – 4 Mar 2021 (Online), ICAgile Certified Professional – Agile Coaching, ICAgile Certified Professional in Team Facilitation, ICAgile Certified Professional – Agile Project and Delivery Management, ICAgile Certified Professional in – Business Agility Foundations, Certified Scrum Professional®- Scrum Master, Disciplined Agile Lean Scrum Master in Bangalore, Disciplined Agile Lean Scrum Master in Virtual, ICAgile Certified Professional – Agile Coaching in Delhi, ICAgile Certified Professional – Agile Coaching in Bangalore, ICAgile Certified Professional – Agile Coaching in Hyderabad, ICAgile Certified Professional – Agile Coaching in Chennai, ICAgile Certified Professional – Agile Coaching in Pune, ICAgile Certified Professional – Agile Coaching Virtual, ICAgile Certified Professional – Team Facilitation: ICP-ATF, ICAgile Certified Professional – Team Facilitation Virtual, Business Agility Foundations (ICP-BAF) in Bangalore, Business Agility Foundations (ICP-BAF) Virtual, FREE PMP® Certification Introductory Program. In IT automation systems, you can use CM for hardware, software, and network configurations. 2. A product life cycle may include many project life cycles.. Figure 1–1shows a logical separation of metadata, even though this d… Configuration Identification (process ST 3.2) — includes the activities that enable you to identify and label all of your company’s existing IT components. In this short article, we’ll look at the four main activities of a Configuration Management System. Software c… The primary goal is to increase productivity with minimal mistakes. Project level configuration – Like WBS dictionary, project management plan etc. Building information models are digital files (often but not always in proprietary formats and containing proprietary data) which can be extracted, exchanged or networked to support decision-making regarding a building or other built asset. They stated that it is not meeting the acceptance criteria. Project Configuration Management is a collection of processes, activities, tools and methods to manage the configuration of project management artifacts such as Contracts, Statement of Works, Work Breakdown Structure, Project Management Plan, Risk Register, Work Performance Information, Performance Reports, Metrics, etc. Configuration management encompasses the technical and administrative activities concerned with the creation, maintenance, controlled change and quality control of the scope of work. Metadata for a configuration item may include its name, the name of the person who produced the item, the production date, and references to other related configuration items. Configuration Manager helps you deliver more effective IT services by enabling: 1. Configuration Management Planning (process ST 3.1) — includes the activities that enable you to plan the function, scope, and objectives of Service Manager for your organization. What is the difference between Scrum and SAFe? Timing of configuration management and issue and change control activities. Remember all projects need a plan. Configuration Management is an Information Technology Infrastructure Library version 2 and an IT Service Management process that tracks all of the individual Configuration Items in an IT system which may be as simple as a single server, or as complex as the entire IT department. And, while performing an integrated change control process-, We need to make sure to follow the configuration management plan for those CIs. Yes, plan makes clear where we need formal change and where we don’t need it. It is a collection of formal documented procedures used to apply technical and administrative direction and surveillance to recognize and document the functional and physical characteristics of a product, result, service, or component; control any changes to such characteristics; record and report each change and it is implementation status; and support the audit of the products, results, or components to verify conformance to requirements. You are surprised to see that the quality control team rejected the deliverable. Maximize hardware and software investments. The Program Manager (PM) is responsible Configuration Management (CM) on their project or program. Like a history of 5 years, six years, etc. Change Control Forms 5. Testware needs to be under configuration management and the same tool may be able to be used for testware as well as for software items. It is a formally defined and documented procedure. The Project Management Professional (PMP), PMBOK, The Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), and The Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA) are registered mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc. iZenbridge Consultancy Private Limited The methods, conventions, and procedures necessary for the activities in status re-porting may be. is the team managing the CIs version as defined. Let’s discuss one point at a time; this would make it easier to understand the definition: Now the question is how to implicate these points in a Project? Some of the verification points could be: It is not a replacement of existing reviews, inspections. Managing change in the delivery of complex projects: Configuration management, asset information and ‘big data’    RESOURCE   There is a tension between the need for control, to manage the configuration of complex systems (particularly in regulated and safety-critical industries), and the responsive, flexible and real-time decision-making implied by new approaches to project management. Your configuration management plan is part of the project management plan (hopefully a relatively small and easy part, but not one that should be overlooked). It reflects the developing profession, recognising project-based working at all levels, and across all sectors for influencers, decision makers, project professionals and their teams. Head Office: 526, Vipul Trade Center, Sector 48, Sohna Road, Gurgaon. What is Software Configuration Management? Some advantages of using configuration management tools include: Adherence to coding conventions that make it easier to navigate code keep it up. Configuration manager – the person that runs the configuration management process and manages the rest of the team (if there is one). This applies to all IT activities and IT assets owned or controlled by you, including those of your agents, contractors or other business partners when acquired or supported by your funding. Is the team maintaining the record of changes. How does it come into the play? The items like operating procure, instruction sheets may also become a part of configurable items. To avoid such issues in the future, you need a concrete system called Configuration Management. It helps in the identification of baseline CIs. CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT PLAN (CMP) 1.0 Introduction This document describes the Configuration Management (CM) activities to be performed in support of the Electronic Records Archive (ERA) Program. Now, the question is, why do we need configuration verification and audit? The PMI registered Education provider logo is a registered mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc. Relationships between documents and files 3. It ensures all necessary data are captured for a given change. Now the question is, what is Configuration Management in a project? Good Luck for your PMP® Certification Exam. Configuration management is an umbrella which includes change management. It is not needed, we need to invest our energy wisely. The first segment will represent the product; the second will represent deliverable, etc. The SCM activities are management and planning of the SCM process, software configuration identification, software configuration control, software configuration status accounting, software configuration auditing, and software release management and delivery. Bangalore Office: 4th Floor, 175&, 176, Bannerghatta Main Rd, Dollars Colony, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560076 Business information modelling involves the generation and management of digital representations of physical and functional characteristics of buildings and places. And, got to know that you were using the old version of the WBS Dictionary. Metadata is a database concept that means data about the data stored in the database. The APM Body of Knowledge 7th edition is a foundational resource providing the concepts, functions and activities that make up professional project management. Not only for project management and audit purposes, but for software development activities such as debugging (for example, knowing what has changed between one set of tests and the next to help identify what could b… Your email address will not be published. This process includes the following configuration management activities: During configuration management planning, we identify CIs. And it may also remain in existence after the project is over. It includes the documentation, tracking systems, & defined approval levels necessary for authorizing & controlling changes. You can watch and listen to the live video presentation on configuration management here. Also, a Configuration management plan may go beyond project boundaries. It also shows the status of each version. It is possible to perform configuration management activities without using the tools, but the tools make it a lot easier, especially in complex environments. The key output of a well-controlled configuration management process is: You can learn more about configuration management in chapter four of the APM Body of Knowledge 7th edition. The methods for these activities are planned and documented in the SACM configuration management plan. ; this provides you with the tools and resources to begin your project management journey. A configuration is the functional and physical characteristics of a product as defined in its specification and achieved through the deployment of project management plans. This section should define identification schemas for information such as: 1. CI Stage in the life cycle. For Project Management Professional (PMP)® Exam, do keep in mind that the configuration management activities (Configuration identification, Configuration status accounting, and Configuration verification and audit) are done in Perform Integrated Change Control, and resourcing which is related to a particular WBS dictionary. And, as the configuration management plan records the physical and functional characteristics –. Which system are we going to use? We need to first start from Configuration management planning, and the result of this planning could be Configuration management Plan. It might so happen that a particular company wants to label individual components of a server as a configuration … A subsystem of the overall project management system. These are formal audits usually conducted at least once for each release. Developers and others involved in the project can use SCM to keep track of artifacts, including source code, documentation, problems, changes requested and changes made. Configuration management can be regarded as an asset control and it is essential whether one or more versions of a deliverable is created. Why it is important? Your email address will not be published. The baseline for a project contains all of the technical requirements and related cost and schedule requirements that are sufficiently … For how long we want to maintain history? Once identified, it helps to control changes to the characteristics of Configurable Item, It records the history of changes done on each configurable items, Also, it supports the audit of these Configurable Items. Empower user productivity by providing the right software at the right time. Like, changing the version, maintaining the version history, etc. Configuration Items Identify what items will and will not be placed under CM. The status of approved changes. Configuration management tools enable changes and deployments to be faster, repeatable, scalable, predictable, and able to maintain the desired state, which brings controlled assets into an expected state. © 2020 Association for Project Management. In essence, CM is a set of the best working practices that deal with initial design as well as the subsequent changes you make to produce deliverables in the project. product user manual. Thanks Rajib, happy to know that you liked blog, keep exploring!! The information in the configuration management database (CMDB) is used for five major activities: Planning - Configuration management planning defines how configuration management will be implemented in a company or organization. The primary objectives of configuration control are to maintain integrity and consistency of each baseline established and prevents unauthorized changes to baselined software. Configuration management is the practice of tracking operational items and their attributes. We need it because: At a defined frequency, the project team should have a process to verify and audit that configuration management plan which should be followed. Where we do not know which one is the right version and which document is compatible with the other, Configuration management manages configurable items. On the other hand, when we are adding or removing issues from issue log – we don’t have any direct impact. We use this audit to verify conformance to the requirements, What all project items are configurable (Configurable Items CIs), Which all items (say Scope Statement, WBS Dictionary) needs, formal change control. PMBOK® Guide Sixth Edition defines Configuration Verification and Audit as. The config management process and approach is documented so that everyone knows what is happening and what is expected. This includes any end products that will be delivered to the customer, as well as all management products, such as the project management plan and performance management baseline. 9 Jan – 17 Jan 2021 (Online), 22 Dec’20 – 12 Jan’21 (Online) Here, next question arises – what is the difference between configuration management plan and change management plan? To implement configuration management, the project professional resources the following five activities: Business information modelling (BIM) is related to configuration management. To summarize, the entire Configuration Management process can be viewed as: Also, it is crucial to understand that we don’t follow formal change for all the artifacts. 26 – 27 December 2020 (Online), 12 , 13 & 19 Dec 2020 (Online) You concluded a thorough analysis of the situation. We can consider Configuration status accounting as like recording the changes as they are taking place as per the configuration management plan. Can the system produce the old version without any issues, etc? It is sometimes referred to as IT automation. It will help you with practical examples about how you can see the configuration management system in your project: By now you must have completely understood the basic concepts underlying the configuration management and how does it impact the software project. Project configuration management is managing the configuration of all of the project’s key products and assets. And, what would be the process of controlling changes to these items? And, the change request is approved or rejected based on the change management plan. These have to be maintained by their subsequent project also. In the typical project configuration; items are made of baseline plans and project documents. Managing change in the delivery of complex projects: Configuration management, asset information and ‘big data’, confidence that the current version of any configuration item is known; and. You have completed the development of the deliverable and sent it to the Quality Control. It is a fundamental operations technique that captures valuable information for processes such as incident management, problem management, change management, maintenance, safety and risk management.The following are illustrative examples. Identification of configurable items – These items are maintained and controlled through the configuration management process. It identifies and records the physical and functional characteristics of the Configurable Items. It first was developed and used by the defens… For example, a Document Version will have two segments like aa, bb, cc, .dd. A versioning scheme. This process includes the following configuration management activities: Configuration Identification. Thank you author for such a nice post. Addressing versions and releases 4. Before we set out to define configuration management, it is crucial to understand why we need it in the first place. 9 & 10 Jan 2021 (Online), 9 Dec 2020 – 20 Jan 2021 (Online) Let us consider a situation wherein you are working on one of the work packages. During configuration management planning, we identify CIs. And, while performing an integrated change control process-We need to make sure to follow the configuration management plan for those CIs. … Procedure(s) for ad hoc extraction of information. I need a record that the new version of this document would be coming for this approved change. Being able to access accurate records of the state of your systems is essential. Like, when we have many version of Project Scope Statement, it helps to get a baseline version of Project Scope Statement. 3. In Software Engineering, Software Configuration Management(SCM) is a process to systematically manage, organize, and control the changes in the documents, codes, and other entities during the Software Development Life Cycle. So you mean it tells the items which will change like issue log and those which will need a formal change control like WBS ? In some cases, configuration management system is highly influenced by the product level configurations. So, we decided not to do formal change control for it. Configuration management is a process that includes established methodology, systems, and procedures to control the elements of the change process. (PMP Sample application included ), Roles and Responsibilities of an Agile Coach, Steer Businesses to Safety in a Volatile Market by Becoming a SAFe Program Consultant. So metadata in this context describes the configuration items. The data in this and other studies demonstrates the need for a project manager to monitor project baselines in a clear and consistent manner in order to mitigate the inevitable impact change can have on the final cost of a project. Configuration management encompasses the technical and administrative activities concerned with the creation, maintenance, controlled change and quality control of the scope of work. The configuration management system is a subsystem of overall project management. It shows if any changes are pending to a CI. Use Configuration Manager to help you with the following systems management activities: 1. In large organizations a configuration manager may be appointed to oversee and manage the CM process. A good place to start is to visit our careers section; this provides you with the tools and resources to begin your project management journey. How To Fill The Work Experience Details In PMP®Application Form? Planning includes defining the scope and the objectives of configuration management. All the roles and responsibilities for configuration management and issue and change control activities. It is like quality assurance team visits and formally audit to see if the Configuration management plan is followed. PMBOK® Guide Sixth Edition Defines Configuration Management as. The reason could be like many other CIs are depend on it, like. He shows you the WBS Dictionary, where acceptance criteria for the same deliverable are different. And, we end up having two views of configuration management –. Various baselines for the project (product versioning) Artifact Life Cycle Define the artifact life … First, we need to plan on what we are going to consider a configuration item. Configuration Management (CM) focuses on the product or the deliverables of a project. Now one of the things that need to be defined by the configuration management strategy is how issues are handled. According to the Practice Standard for Project Configuration Management (On page number 17) configuration change management can be viewed as follows: Configuration change management is usually described in the project change control plan or in a separate configuration management plan if project size and complexity justify it. Example stage could be either of one – draft, in review, approved, not effective, effective, retired, or obsolete. Secure and scalable deployment of applications, software updates, and operating systems. To clear the confusion, you approach the member of the quality control team. CMS also takes care about how are we going to record changes? Following is the goal of configuration verification and audit: It ensures that we build project CIs according to their defined documentation. Status of any pending changes to a CI. Product Level configuration – Like product related artefacts e.g. documented traceability between versions of each configuration item. Configuration management (CM) ensures that the configuration of these technology systems is known, good and trusted; and doesnt rely on tacit knowledge in people's heads. The status may say the following: If I am approving the change in the scope statement –. In ITIL version 3, … A well-managed Service Asset and Configuration Management Process requires thorough planning and proper management, for the operation of the SACM process to work. Let’s take an example – In a project, we feel that we need formal change control for the WBS dictionary. It is an environment needed to apply change management processes to admin all changes related to the organization (project). The discipline of configuration management has been practiced for years. When a change is requested, we need to make sure physical and functional characteristics of CI based on Configuration management plan. CM is the application of sound program practices to establish and maintain consistency of a product’s or system’s attributes with its requirements and evolving technical baseline over its life. Configuration management (CM) is a systems engineering process for establishing and maintaining consistency of a product's performance, functional, and physical attributes with its requirements, design, and operational information throughout its life. Configuration Planning tells us the following: Configuration Management Plan also recommends: In the configuration management plan, we define a clear versioning system. Procedure(s) for the production of available status reports. The goal of this subsystem is to manage fundamental project constraints of scope, time, cost and quality. Configuration Management Activities At a broader level, configuration management involves following activities. It helps in maintaining the integrity of those CIs. We do Configuration management activities in the Perform Integrated Change Control Process. Since the product we are developing may already be in existence before the project commenced. The seventh edition continues in the spirit of previous editions, collaborating with the project community to create a foundation for the successful delivery of projects, programmes and portfolios. Configuration analyst – a member of the team that supports the configuration manager and ensures that the day-to-day tasks are carried out. The primary objective of this Management and Planning sub-process is to define the strategy, policy, scope, objectives, processes, procedures, Roles, and Responsibilities for SACM process. And, looking at the WBS dictionary for acceptance criteria. 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