Configuration Management Introduction
Configuration Management Introduction
Configuration Management Introduction
Topics to be discussed:
Short History What is CM Objectives of CM Audience of CM Usage Configuration Management Processes and Activities
Short History
Configuration, to form or after, derives from the Latin com-, meaning with or together, and figurare, to form
Later, especially in the 1990s, many other standards and publications discussing configuration management have emerged
In the last few years, the growing understanding of process/ product development as a collection of interrelated activities has influenced work on configuration management
This means that CM is now also considered from a process point of view.
Introduction
To cope with the drastically changing business environment, enterprises are becoming strongly focused on ways to:
Improve Reduce
In achieving these goals, enterprises should undergo if not many, some drastic changes
These changes would not only apply to the core business/ operations of the organization. Even back support departments like HR, Sales and Marketing, etc were obligated to undergo changes internally, and even as part of the totality of changes in an organization
Being
What is CM?
There are many definitions of configuration management and many opinions on what it really is
Configuration management is unique identification, controlled storage, change control, and status reporting of selected intermediate word product components, and product during the life of a system
CM processes/ activities
The view of configuration management that we will use in this course is process oriented
Therefore, the definition includes activity areas, which can be describes in terms of process descriptions
These processes are Identification, Assessment/ Approval, Implementation, Test/ Release, Status Accounting Reporting (Auditing)
CM Five Processes
Audit
CM is cyclic or is it?
In everyday language, configuration item is often used to refer to an item, which is then to be produced several versions.
This is not strictly correct. In fact, each new version of a configuration item is a new configuration item in its own right
CM activities may be viewed as cyclic for each item class placed under configuration management. This means that the configuration item continuously goes through the mill (or the process)
The first cycle is initiated by a (planned) need for configuration item, and later the driving force is a change request
In each cycle, a configuration item will be identified, produced, stored, and released for usage.
Objectives of CM
Maintain a detailed record of each products configuration. This means tracking down to the patch and revision level of individual component and sub-components of the product Control the changes implemented. This includes a formal process for change requests, assessment, approval, implementation, test and release
Ensure an audit trail. This includes change requests, approvals, test results, installation/ deployment dates, and post installation quality assurance tests to support the systems operational baseline configuration documentation Facilitate life cycle management and operational consistency. This is verified by auditing installed systems against baseline configuration documentation
Audience of CM
The audience of CM includes ___________________ These customers fall in to four categories, each using CM for differing purposes.
Role
User
How it applies
Request a change or recommend an improvement to the new process
Changer
Information Technology personnel
Usage
Five of the six processes are sequential, starting with requirements or improvements identification and ending with status reporting
The sixth process, auditing, is an on going process to verify that the system configuration documentation accurately reflects the systems actual configuration
Processes
Identification
Activity
User initiates a change request. Someone else will validate a change request, notifies the initiator, and passes the request on to the Configuration Control Manager The CCM assigns priorities, initiates a review, complies the findings, and forwards the findings to one of three parties Depending on the requester, CCB, subject matter experts, or peer review approves or denies the requests directed to them
Implementation
If the change request is approved, the project is implemented. If the Change request is denied, it is closed out and the initiators are notified
Provides criteria for testing the system after a change has been implemented and releasing the system back into operation This process documents the change that been implemented This process audits the configuration documentation against the actual system configuration
1.1 The need for configuration management 1.2 Basic concepts of configuration management
It is the objective of CM to administer and supply information about the product. It is often said that people once having worked with proper implemented configuration management without realizing it will realize the strengths of CM when working in environments where it is not implemented
CM should provide visibility of the products configuration through recording specific data in order to establish and maintain integrity of the product described by the configuration throughout its complete life cycle.
CM in detail
CM is the discipline of organizing, controlling, and managing the evolution of defined products from a descriptive point of view It supports all phases from the requirements phase till the end of the product lifecycle It identifies the products and components and keeps tracks of how they are organized and where they are stored Manages and controls changes of any kind and for any reason to these configuration items such that the integrity of the product can be maintained
Collects and disseminates information about configuration and its items based on recorded data
which implies the existence of versions, and provides mechanisms and techniques for the co-ordination of a team of people working together
Can be transferred into saved budget by calculating how much solving problems like defects (operational/ details/ specs), delays, etc would have costs
* Indirect savings obtained from more effective, efficient and reliable phases and as a result a higher quality of the product is achieved.
CM in standards/ regulations
The rest of the standards are all software related i.e. CMMI, ISO/IEC 9001:2000, ISO/IEC 12207:1995, etc., etc., etc.
CM is a support process for process improvement, that is for products being produced and maintained by those responsible for process improvement
Process improvement staff should perform configuration management on the products they are responsible for
Setup and constantly improving a configuration management should be the responsibility of process improvement
Improving CM
Improving CM is setting up a plan to improve the discipline of CM within the organization to reach a higher maturity level This improvement plan should reflect the aimed maturity or ambition and comply with the internally defined policy. Includes:
Activities in Improving CM
Determining current state Defining goal Planning and monitoring implementation Pilot project Roll out Determining success
CM Process Model
CM is an even-driven process
Starts when an item needs to be controlled (at least for the planning and identification)
Information is needed
Audit needs to be executed
Skills/ People
Processes
Technology/ Tools
Although CM process is based on the same basic principles, the process itself can be implemented differently per organization or even per product type Responsible unit should describe in detail how the process is/ will be implemented
CM planning levels
Organization level (CM strategy) Product level needed when no project is defined like at the end of the life cycle or cross project level or maintenance Project level when developing a release of a product
CM Activities: IDENTIFICATION
Understand and explain the criteria for defining Configuration items Recall the products that can be placed under configuration management Describe the attributes to be defined for configuration items
Configuration Identification
SELECTION AND NAMING
Purposes:
Determine
which products should be taken under configuration management unique configuration items the characteristics (attributes/ metadata) for configuration items
Determine
Specify
In principle everything may be placed under configuration management Configuration item a product placed under CM - is assembled in configurations
Configurations may vary in complexity - may be an individual item or a hierarchical collection of other configurations/ CI
The individual CI in a configuration may be of all types in any required mixture Note that CIs can be any possible part of a product defined as a configuration (in tagalog parte ng kabuuan) that it is necessary to have identified, produced, stored, used, and changed individually
Selecting too many CIs could result in too much work (and/ or less productivity) Cost and Benefits
Too much work lead to the misconception that CM is a bureaucratic process Less productivity (remember one of the costs of CM)
Cont Risks
Selecting too few CIs does not give the control you are aiming for Configuration Identification is one of the main cornerstones during the manufacturing process of the products
Types of CIs
Software Hardware
Network data
Documents Services
For each of the types, it has to be decided whether and how they may be placed under CM In view of CM the differences between the types need to be understood with respect to the attributes and storage of a CI
A baseline is an agreed-to-configuration, formally established at a specific point in time It serves as a reference for further activities and a basis for managing changes CIs identified in this first activity may be treated as the baseline that could serve as the comparison point after the release of a specific item is done
Examples of CIs
Software related components which when controlled within software development is SCM Hardware in CI context is the hardware to be delivered as part of the product Information sources containing information related to the product (requirements, specs, user manuals, etc)
The services to be delivered for a product are intangible, and cannot be identified as CIs. However the tangible components sustaining them, can be placed under CM (procedure description, training material, and user manuals)
Companies often have cross-organizational products or assets for which CM should be considered (administrative docs, company product assets, infrastructure, etc)
An organization must define the conventions for unique identification of configuration and its items One general convention not enough Typically several conventions are necessary for various types of CIs (like both hardware and software, documents and codes, supplier and distributor, etc)
Cont
Unique identification may include affiliation, name, version, states, date (referring to the status), and storage place The unique identification must connect the registration and the actual product (physical or electronic) in such a way that it is always possible to find the CI Examples: electronic products (file names), specs (version, supplier, price, etc)
CI attribute: relationships
Unique identification is also a necessity for registration of relations between CIs The relations between CIs are part of the attributes to record
Types of Relations
Breakdown (Specs)
Impact-relations (improvement, Price/ cost,
Records of relations supply valuable information when products are analysed or need to rebuild (e.g. for correcting issues, implementing new functionality)
Forward traces references to all design object and test procedures from individual requirements Backward traces references from individual design objects and test procedures to the requirements implemented and tested
Trace information is important for understanding the product, and avoiding omissions
Impact analysis
To implement proper configuration control have general directions for authorization specified in a plan
Authorities in CIs
Author him/herself for CIs (drafts of documents) A group consisting the project manager, the person responsible for QA, and representative of the customer (for documents to be used by everybody)
Other CI attributes
Where (environment)
Ownership
reports
By partner ONLY Identification of Configuration items in a certain product/ service Different item per partner Situation: Improving your chosen product, what CIs are you going to select for identification stage
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Situation: Improving your chosen product What CIs are you going to select for identification stage Determine each item as software, hardware, documents, or services Describe the baseline/s for each CI Identify the forward trace/s or/and backward trace/s for each CI (if both are applicable) Who has/have authorization for each CI? Explain Describe the how, with what, where each CI has been produced
Registration Form Transcript of Records A Medical Bill Pay slip Clearance Form
In most configuration management related standards, storage and release is not defined as a separate set of activities A sub-activity of Configuration Identification
Ensure that any CI is stored in such a way that it will not disappear, that it can be found anytime It can be delivered in the expected condition
Storage Areas
Stored items are physically present at a specific location, a storage area The term area is used for storage of both physical and electronic items
For electronic items, it can be: directory structure on a workstation, a loose-leaf book, a shelf, a desk, etc.
Usage Area
Manufacturing Area
Is the location where drafts and un-finished products are kept while they are being produced or developed May also be referred to as development library, workspace area, or sandbox
A complete manufacturing area will often consist of a considerable number of independent areas
Usage Area
Is the location where the products are being deployed to and used
The responsibility of for the usage area varies depending on the usage context. For example: - Review of a project; reviewers desk - Execution of a product in production; production machine or on users workstation
This is where CIs are stored by transfer from the manufacturing area
Manufacturing Area
Usage Area
Configuration items are released from the configuration controlled area to the usage area.
This area contains the CIs themselves May be referred to as the CM area or the controlled library CIs are transferred from manufacturing area to configuration controlled area when they are ready to be placed under CM Check-in
CIs kept in the configuration controlled area are given out to stakeholders via the usage or manufacturing areas Release from storage
Release can take place to the usage area, when a configuration item is going to be used as it is It can also take place to a manufacturing area if a CI is going to be used as the basis for manufacturing another
Release Cont
A release may be accompanied by a release note stating the contents of and reason for it Information about distribution of releases, such as who has got what and why, may be registered as part of the attributes for a configuration item
The control of the impact of change on the CIs - Configuration Change Control
The actual implementation and verification of changes - is called change management and is not part of CM
For each new version of a CI it should identify the changes that have been implemented relative to the predecessor
All changes should be traceable from the change request to the configuration item(s) where the change has been implemented and vice versa
When a product is being developed, deployed, and maintained, wishes for change/s are inevitable Employees make mistakes, business requirements change over time, and the environment in which a product is deployed can evolve as well
People constantly develop their knowledge about their products and business processes consequently get new ideas for the evolution of the product Some even say a solution to a task will create new problems: We learn while doing
Events
The initiation of configuration change control is the occurrence of an event. Event could be anything varying from a simple incident during deployment or validation tests to a new business need for adapting the product for commercial or regulation reasons
- bugs
- problems - deviations - failures - enhancements - waivers - incidents
The first five are related to the recognition of events where the product does not conform to expectations Enhancements are events where new ideas for improvement of the product is recognized
Waivers are events where the customer agrees to leave requirements unfulfilled
An event must be registered if it pertains to one or more CIs and if it is not evident that no change can possibly be caused by the event The event registration must be done meticulously so that the origin of the event can be understood and followed by stakeholders, recreated, investigated, and decided upon by the appropriate CCB, and monitored to confirmation of solution implementation
The information should also be useable in data analysis to find trends and suggestion for process improvement
Events can be raised by all stakeholders within the organization or at customers Depending on the event there may be an impact onto individual projects, entire development lines throughout the whole enterprise An event may lead to a formal change request of the defined configuration item. The decision about the fate if an event is made by the relevant CCB
Assignment: Individual
Think of just 1 possible important event to be changed in your ID Identify its type or alias, and provide the requirements, except the appropriate signatures