Project management Topic 8 Configuration Management

What is Configuration Management? Processes for managing, controlling and tracking the project’s products Keeps files of all products and controls access to products For each product, specifies the version of the product and information about the product such as: – Status, ‘ready for quality checking, in use, archived’ – Owner, who has primary responsibility for the product – Relationships to other products Logs, tracks and files all project issues

Configuration Management activities Assign a UID code, identify sub-products and product dependencies Identify the ‘owner’ of a product and the creator of the product Recording, monitoring and reporting on the current status File all documentation for the product and retain masters Procedures for the safety, security and access to the product Distribute copies of the product and records who has copies Maintain records of relationships for impact assessment Control change to all products and establish baselines Perform configuration audits to ensure consistent accurate records

Configuration Management and quality Configuration Management is a major quality control Provides control of products: – What their status is – Where they are – Whether they can be changed – What the latest version is Essential to manage change and upgrades Identifies products which may be affected by an issue through their relationships Use to track and troubleshoot issues

Baseline Baseline is a snapshot of the state of a product and its components that is frozen to a point in time It provides a point of reference at major boundaries, such as authorisation of project plan or successful quality review Changes to the product after baselining are made to a copy of the product and given a new version number Old baselines are always kept to allow recreation of any version of the released product A release is a complete and consistent set of products, which has been baselined at a fixed point in development – Design specification – Final Product

Configuration Management functions Planning – What level of configuration management? – Products are broken down into components until the lowest level at which the component can be independently installed replaced or modified Identification – Every product and component has a unique identifier – ID should include project, type of product, product and latest version number

Configuration Management functions Control – Baselining or freezing products after quality reviews – A baseline product can only be changed under formal change control – A product can only be issued to one person for change at a time. Multiple changes must be combined or wait for the next version Product submission – Procedure for handing the product to the Configuration Librarian – Product is protected from further change and Project Manager is notified of product status Issuing the product – Wherever possible, keep the master and issue copies – Record who a product has been issued to, reason and the date issued and returned, consult security requirements – Issue copies labeled with number to control copies in circulation

Configuration Management functions Status accounting – Recording and reporting all the current and historical details about the product – Report from the Configuration Librarian for the Project Manager – Has the product description been written? Is the product draft ready? Has it been approved? Verification – Reviews and configuration audits to ensure that the actual status matches the authorised status

Configuration Management Plan Included in the project Quality Plan – How and where products will be stored – What filing and retrieval security there will be – How the products and versions will be identified Every product has a unique identifier. ID should include project, type of product, product and latest version number – Responsibility for configuration management Configuration Librarian

Fundamentals Managing, controlling and tracking the project’s products – Product components – Owners and authorities – Relationships – Status and change control – Storage, safety and access Configuration Management functions – Planning – levels – Identification – UID codes – Control Baselines after quality reviews Product Submission Procedures Product Issuing Procedures – Status accounting – Verification (auditing)