5 FAM 650 CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT CM

The benefits of a CMS/CMDB includes being able to perform functions like root cause analysis, impact analysis, change management, and current state assessment for future state strategy development. Example systems, commonly identifies themselves as IT Service Management (ITSM) systems, include FreshService, ServiceNow and Samanage. In Software Engineering, Software Configuration Management(SCM) is a process to systematically manage, organize, and control the changes https://www.globalcloudteam.com/ in the documents, codes, and other entities during the Software Development Life Cycle. SCM is part of cross-disciplinary field of configuration management and it can accurately determine who made which revision. When carrying out your baselining, start with one service and map all of its components. Store the information centrally within your ITSM toolset if it has an integrated configuration management system (CMS) or configuration management database (CMDB).

For this reason, engineers, contractors, and management are frequently forced to develop documentation reflecting the actual status of the item before they can proceed with a change. This reverse engineering process is wasteful in terms of human and other resources and can be minimized or eliminated using CM. Once you have your configuration management plan agreed and in place, it’s time to start phase two of your configuration management initiative with identification and baselining. Configuration change control is the systematic evaluation,

coordination, approval or disapproval, and implementation of all approved

changes in the configuration of a configuration item after formal establishment

of its identification. Configuration control covers the evaluation of all

change requests and change proposals and their subsequent approval and

Status Accounting

disapproval.

The software configuration management (SCM) process is looked upon by practitioners as the best solution to handling changes in software projects. It identifies the functional and physical attributes of software at various points in time, and performs systematic control of changes to the identified attributes for the purpose of maintaining software integrity and traceability throughout the software development life cycle. For example, configuration requirements may be different for a network firewall that functions as part of an organization’s Internet boundary versus one that functions as an internal local network firewall. The recording and reporting of information needed for configuration management including the status of configuration items (CIs), proposed changes and the implementation status of approved changes.

The lack of CM, or its ineffectual implementation, can be very expensive and sometimes can have such catastrophic consequences such as failure of equipment or loss of life. Last week, in Part 1 of my two-part series on configuration management, I covered what configuration management is and the importance of planning, including scope and scaling. Now, in Part 2, I look at the configuration management disciplines of identification, control, status accounting, and auditing. Configuration management (CM) must support the development

project and the environment in which it will be maintained and operated.

Availability of accurate and timely data is essential in order for CM to provide operational value and a lack of this can often be a limiting factor. Capturing and disseminating the operating data to the various support organizations is becoming an industry in itself. With the help of archiving or save feature, it is possible to roll back to the previous version in case of issues. I’m a native New Yorker and I love everything connected to IT service management (ITSM).

Configuration Management originated in the United States Department of Defense in the 1950s as a technical management discipline for hardware material items—and it is now a standard practice in virtually every industry. The CM process became its own technical discipline sometime in the late 1960s when the DoD developed a series of military standards called the “480 series” (i.e., MIL-STD-480, MIL-STD-481 and MIL-STD-483) that were subsequently issued in the 1970s. Many of these functions and models have redefined CM from its traditional holistic approach to technical management. Some treat CM as being similar to a librarian activity, and break out change control or change management as a separate or stand alone discipline.

The project manager must introduce configuration

• Configuration management is a methodical,

  systematic management control system that identifies physical and functional

  characteristics, controls, and identifies and reports changes.

• So configuration management done properly should be like spending a cent to save a dollar.
• The

  project is conducted in accordance with the life cycle model for planning,

  managing, developing, and operating IT systems.

• The benefits of a CMS/CMDB includes being able to perform functions like root cause analysis, impact analysis, change management, and current state assessment for future state strategy development.
• The CM identification process is a mechanism for

  identifying and labeling products (i.e., configuration items) produced during

  the development process.

• You will need to work with change management personnel to ensure that everything under configuration control is covered by the corporate change policy.

management (CM) controls into the project as early as possible, but not later

than the acquisition period. Configuration management is a methodical,

systematic management control system that identifies physical and functional

characteristics, controls, and identifies and reports changes. The objective

Why do we need Configuration management?

of CM is to control and document the physical and functional characteristics of

the elements of a system to ensure that total system integrity is maintained. Change control is a procedural method which ensures quality and consistency when changes are made in the configuration object. In this step, the change request is submitted to software configuration manager.

RE Definition: Configuration Status Accounting

The configuration management (CM) process provides

the framework for the identification, control, status accounting, roles and

responsibilities, and standards and procedures for developing and implementing

the change control process. It is designated and fixed at a specific time while conducting the SCM process. Configuration status accounting (CSA) defines the

procedures for obtaining and reporting information on the nontechnical status

of proposed changes, pending changes, and baselines.

When the change requests are finally implemented the design is substantially different. Complex assets such as aircraft, ships, industrial machinery etc. depend on many different components being serviceable. This serviceability is often defined in terms of the amount of usage the component has had since it was new, since fitted, since repaired, the amount of use it has had over its life and several other limiting factors.

If you are ISO certified or have legal requirements under the likes of IL3, BASEL 3, or NGN224, then you will have to be audited by an independent third party. This loss could have been avoided if the configuration status of the design description was known to the software developers. A development team spends two months coding from a baselined design description that, unbeknown to them, has outstanding change requests.

Status accounting provides the means by which the current state of the development can be judged and the history of the development life cycle can be traced. CM identifies systems configuration and components

(hardware, software, documentation, and data) and develops and implements the

change control process as specified in the configuration management plan. Configuration audits facilitate project management and

technical activities to verify project products. Certain types of

configuration audits (i.e., functional configuration audit (FCA), physical

configuration audit (PCA) are performed to verify that development was

completed satisfactorily, and to verify that each configuration item conforms

to the documentation that defines it. Configuration identification names specific products to be

developed during each life cycle phase according to the project plan and

quality assurance (QA) plan. The CM identification process is a mechanism for

identifying and labeling products (i.e., configuration items) produced during

the development process.

Implemented effectively, not only can configuration management speed up the resolution of incidents and problems, but it can also prevent them by making sure we get it right the first time, change-wise. The Information Technology Change Control Board (IT

CCB) is a high level change organization that assists various Change Control

Boards in coordinating and forwarding IT infrastructure changes into the

capitol planning process of the Department of State. Once approved as a

project, the IT CCB periodically tracks and reports on the progress and

accomplishment of each infrastructure project change to the Technical Review

Advisory Group (TRAG) and the Management Review Advisory Group (MRAG). Configuration management is used to maintain an understanding of the status of complex assets with a view to maintaining the highest level of serviceability for the lowest cost. Specifically, it aims to ensure that operations are not disrupted due to the asset (or parts of the asset) overrunning limits of planned lifespan or below quality levels. ITIL specifies the use of a Configuration management system (CMS) or Configuration management database (CMDB) as a means of achieving industry best practices for Configuration Management.

Baselining is taking a snapshot of your infrastructure so you know what you have and where it is at a certain point in time. A structured CM program ensures that documentation (e.g., requirements, design, test, and acceptance documentation) for items is accurate and consistent with the actual physical design of the item. In many cases, without CM, the documentation exists but is not consistent with the item itself.

With the help of this step, you can manage or control something even if you don’t know what it is. It is a description that contains the CSCI type (Computer Software Configuration Item), a project identifier and version information. Regardless of the size and complexity of your organization, you need to have a plan for carrying out audits. Is there an existing tool that you can use such as Symantec Server Management Suite?

These are designed to offer operators guaranteed availability and make the picture more complex with the operator managing the asset but the OEM taking on the liability to ensure its serviceability. We will help you identify congestion points, select automation tools, and implement best practices to enhance productivity and reduce costs. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Every organization is different but as a bare minimum, I would ensure that several spot checks are carried out on critical services every month and that a full, internal audit is taken every year.