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Components of Configuration Management

Components of Configuration Management

The four basic processes of configuration management are:

  • Configuration Management Planning (not included in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)
  • Configuration Identification
  • Configuration status accounting
  • Configuration verification and audit

Configuration management planning, like most other plans, requires planning ahead of time to provide guidance and direction on how configuration management will be accomplished throughout the project or product lifecycles. It involves establishing what configuration items need to be controlled, typically the level at which to control the configuration for both hardware and software; when to control configuration, normally once a baseline is established; how to change configuration through configuration control process; and the level of resources required for configuration management efforts.

Configuration Identification

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)  definition – “Identification and selection of a configuration item to provide the basis for which the product configuration is defined and verified, products and documents are labeled, changes are managed and accountability is maintained.”

The main purpose of this process is the identification and selection of a configuration item (CI). “A configuration item (CI) is any part of the development and/or deliverable system (whether software, hardware, firmware, drawings, inventories and/or documentation) which needs to be independently identified, stored, tested, reviewed, used, changed, delivered and/or maintained.  CIs differ widely in complexity and may contain other CIs in a hierarchy.” (Kelly, 2005)

Each CI should have a unique identifier and a version number. Configuration management plan will help determine the level at which configuration items should be defined for both software and hardware components. For example, design of a new smartphone will have hardware and software as primary specifications which can further include configuration items:

Hardware – radio system, camera, casing, keyboard, etc

Software – radio system software, camera software, user interface software, etc.

Configuration status accounting

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) definition – “Information is recorded and reported as to when appropriate data about the configuration item should be provided. This information includes a listing of approved configuration identification, status of proposed changes, and implementation status of approved changes.”

This process is mainly concerned with keeping track of all configuration items, all pending changes, and all approved changes to configuration items. The status accounting process is mostly one of reporting on what progress the project team has made in completing configuration items and in incorporating approved changes into configuration items.  But, although the configuration status accounting process may seem trivial, there is one important function that it plays.  It provides a very useful metric on the quality of specific configuration items. (Mitretek, 2002)

Configuration verification and audit

A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) definition – “Configuration verification and configuration audits endure the composition of a project’s configuration items is correct and that corresponding changes are registered, assed, approved, tracked and correctly implemented. This ensures the functional requirements defined in the configuration documentation have been met.”

Configuration audits is concerned with verifying consistency of configuration documentation against the product. There are two basic types of configuration audits: the Functional Configuration Audit (FCA), and the Physical Configuration Audit (PCA).  The Configuration Manager or his representative conducts a FCA to make sure that the configuration item performs as its design and specification indicate that it should perform.  A PCA is an inventory of the configuration items for the system (or any of its subsystems) and ensure that all of the items are actually in existence before the system (or subsystem) is accepted for testing or for production use. (Mitretek, 2002)

References:

Kelly, Marion V. (1995), Configuration Management: The Changing Image. McGraw-Hill Companies, The.

Mitretek Systems, Inc. (2002, April), A Guide to Configuration Management for Intelligent Transportation Systems. Retrieved July 2013 from http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/jpodocs/repts_te/13622.html