Describe software configuration management

Change control is a procedural method which ensures quality and. Understand how to define scm and discuss how to accomplish it. This includes software versions and updates installed on the organizations computer systems. Configuration management is a topic that often confuses new practitioners. Suppose after some changes, the version of configuration object changes from 1. There are two meanings for the project management process of configuration management. Software engineering system configuration management whenever a software is build, there is always scope for improvement and those improvements brings changes in picture. In the 1970s, the american government developed a number of military standards, which included configuration management. A configuration is the set of functional and physical characteristics of a final deliverable defined in the specification and achieved in the execution of plans. Software configuration management scm is a software engineering discipline consisting of standard processes and techniques often used by organizations to manage the changes introduced to its software products. Software configuration management must be practiced for any software system from the moment any work on the software system begins to when support ceases for that system. Software configuration management scm is the discipline for systematically controlling the changes that take place during development.

Software configuration management is a process independent of the development process largely because most development models cannot accommodate change at any time during development. Software configuration management an overview sciencedirect. Other tools use a push model, where a central server triggers updates to managed servers. Cm is the application of sound program practices to establish and maintain consistency of a products or systems attributes with its requirements and evolving technical baseline over its life.

Changes may be required to modify or update any existing solution or to create a new solution for a problem. Sep 12, 2019 configuration management is an increasingly important foundation for a successful tech platform. It also means a relative arrangement of parts or elements. Ccm is a continuous process of controlling and approving changes to information or technology assets or related. Configuration management is a collection of processes and tools that promote network consistency, track network change, and provide up to date network documentation and visibility. Software configuration management scm is the the overall management of a software design project as it evolves into a software product or system. Software configuration management scm is a software engineering discipline consisting of standard processes and techniques often used by. 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. In many cases earlier versions still in use must also be maintained and controlled. Nov 12, 2007 there are two meanings for the project management process of configuration management. What is configuration management and how does it work. The configuration management plan shall describe the contractors processes for managing configuration items that are pertinent to the system.

Improving scm in your company means improving your patterns. Configuration management encompasses the administrative activities concerned with the creation, maintenance, controlled change and quality control of the scope of work. The primary goal is to increase productivity with minimal mistakes. What is configuration management in software testing. Configuration management therefore refers to managing a relative arrangement of parts or elements.

Mar 28, 2017 simply put, for software development, a baseline is a static i. Department of energy quality managers software quality. Start by assigning a configuration management process owner who will be responsible for owning the configuration management strategy, structure and process. In software engineering, software configuration management scm or sw cm is the task of tracking and controlling changes in the software, part of the larger crossdisciplinary field of configuration management. This means that each change operation made should have the characteristic of a fixed point. A fivestep model for configuration management techrepublic. The software configuration management process identifies the functional and physical attributes of software at critical points in time, and implements procedures to control changes to an identified attribute with the objective of maintaining software integrity and traceability throughout the software life cycle. The goal of scm is to improve the speed of and quality by catching errors early and enabling quick fixes when they occur. Jun 28, 2016 in simple terms, configuration means arrangement of the parts while change means modification of the parts or the whole machine. Good leaders in the tech space will want to know what it takes to implement it.

Configuration management makes it trivial to replicate environments with the exact same software and configurations. This includes technical aspects of the project, all level of communications, organization, and the control of modifications changes to the project plan by the programmers during the development phase. This chapter summarises the principles of software configuration management described in esa pss050 and then discusses the application of these principles first to documents and then to code. It has the capability of describing and storing the various constituent of software. Administrators, technicians, and software developers can use. In simple terms, configuration means arrangement of the parts while change means modification of the parts or the whole machine. Pikt pikt is foremost a monitoring system that also does configuration management. Cm also involves logging the network addresses belonging to the hardware devices used. Configuration management is an increasingly important foundation for a successful tech platform. Software configuration management can be functionally broken out into the areas of 1 version control, 2 document control, 3 change management 4 build management, and 5 release control. This enables you to effectively build a multistage ecosystem, with production, development, and testing servers. Comparison of opensource configuration management software.

It is abbreviated as the scm process in software engineering. It includes four procedures that should be defined for each software project to ensure that a reliable software configuration management process is utilized. Top 10 configuration management tools you need to know about. The software configuration management process traces changes and verifies that the software has all of the planned changes that are supposed to be included in a new release. The configuration management process seeks to identify and track individual configuration items cis, documenting functional capabilities, and interdependencies. Software configuration management scm is a supportingsoftware. Software configuration management linkedin slideshare. It enhances productivity and boosts application quality. Software configuration management plans wieee 1042.

This includes managing software modules, managing and controlling releases to the different system environments, managing documentation, managing work authorizations, and participating. This video will explain you in detail about what is software configuration management in software engineering and it will also describe about the activities in. Configuration management is also used in software development and deployment, where it is called software or unified configuration management scm or ucm. Software configuration management scm is a set of processes, policies. A better model for software configuration management that is clearly understood and is scaleable is the subject of this paper. One of the first tasks that the process owner should undertake is creating and ratifying a service asset and configuration management sacm policy. It involves interaction among government and contractor program functions such as. The program manager should use configuration management to establish and mature the technical, functional and acquisition program baseline throughout the acquisition and system life cycle.

Software configuration management is defined as a process to systematically manage, organize, and control the changes in the documents, codes, and other entities during the software development life cycle. Practical lessons, over the years, had led to the definition, and establishment, of procedures and tools. In the eworld, which is an expression used to describe the environment in which web applications are developed and utilized, effective and timeefficient software. Describe the tasks that are required to apply configuration management to the project. The first software configuration management was a manual operation. An introduction to configuration management digitalocean. The program manager pm is responsible configuration management cm on their project or program.

Configuration management frequently asked questions. The minimum required contents of a software configuration management plan scmp are established, and the specific activities to be addressed and their requirements for any portion of a software productos life cycle are defined. What configuration management is and where it originated from. Software configuration management scm all you need to know. This video will explain you in detail about what is software configuration management in software engineering and it will also describe about the activities in the software configuration. Rather than describing the steps needed to make a change, the. Software configuration management meaning software configuration management definition software. The purpose of the baseline is to have a static reference point for changes that occur once the baseline is crea. If something goes wrong, scm can determine what was changed and who changed it. The list of the most popular software configuration management tools top scm tools in 2020 in software engineering software configuration management is the task of tracking and controlling changes in the software part of the larger disciplinary field of configuration management the scm practices include vision controls in the establishment of baselines.

Simply put, for software development, a baseline is a static i. The cm system should a identify uniquely the versions of each software item. This is usually achieved by setting up a change control board whose primary function is to approve or reject all change request that is sent against any. Software configuration management is the process of identifying and defining the software configuration items in a system, controlling the release and change of these items throughout the system lifecycle, recording and reporting the status of. Computer programs both source level and executable work products that describe the computer programs targeted at. Software configuration management in software engineering. Software configuration management is a method of bringing control to the software development and software management process. Configuration management, as we know it today, started in the late 1960s.

With the advances in language and complexity, software engineering, involving configuration management and other methods, became a major concern due to issues like schedule, budget, and quality. Configuration management cm is a governance and systems engineering process for ensuring consistency among physical and logical assets in an operational environment. Divided into two parts, the first section is composed of 14 chapters that explain every facet of. Configuration management determines clearly about the items that make up the software or system.

A configuration management cm system is used to keep track of an organizations hardware, software and related information. Software configuration management scm is a set of processes, policies, and tools that organize the development process. Guide to software configuration management forward. The goals of software configuration management are generally configuration, identification, configuration idioms and baselines, configuration control, implementing a control change process. For instance, a typical configuration for a pc consists of 32mb main memory, a floppy drive, a hard disk, a modem, a cdrom drive, a vga monitor, and the windows operating system. Software configuration management discusses the framework from a standards viewpoint, using the original dod milstd973 and eia649 standards to describe the elements of configuration management within a software engineering perspective. Configuration, to form from or after, derives from the latin com, meaning with or together, and figurare, to form. Software engineering system configuration management. Some configuration management tools use a pull model, in which an agent installed on the servers runs periodically to pull the latest definitions from a central repository and apply them to the server. Iso 9000 update configuration management and iso 9001. It can be used for the process of identifying, tracking, and managing of all the physical assets of a project. Jan 25, 2018 software configuration management scm is a set of processes, policies, and tools that organize the development process. Scm helps in identifying individual elements and configurations, tracking changes, and version selection, control, and baselining.

In software engineering, software configuration management is the task of tracking and. Jul 01, 2014 software configuration management scm is a software engineering discipline consisting of standard processes and techniques often used by organizations to manage the changes introduced to its software products. Configuration can refer to either hardware or software, or the combination of both. It provides the tool to ensure that changes are being properly implemented.

You can even use local virtual machines for development, built with the same provisioning scripts. Scm is a process used for more efficiently developing and maintaining software, which is accomplished by improving accountability, auditability, reproducibility. By building and maintaining configuration management bestpractices, you can expect several benefits such as improved network availability and lower costs. Configuration management provides a mechanism for identifying, controlling and tracking the versions of each software item. Scm process as part of the subcontract and the means for monitoring. The era is a largescale, comprehensive system designed to provide preservation of, and access to, electronic federal. What is the meaning of baseline in software configuration. Configuration management encompasses the technical and administrative activities concerned with the creation, maintenance, controlled change and quality control of the scope of work 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. Scm practices include revision control and the establishment of baselines.

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