CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT
Configuration management is a formalized discipline for setting and managing changes to baselines. It falls under the rubric of change management.
A typical life cycle for configuration management observes the following steps.
- Define the standards.
- Document requests for changes.
- Evaluate changes.
- Record results.
- Publish changes.
Good configuration practices require setting up an infrastructure to support all five phases of the life cycle for configuration management. These practices are set up early in a project and are followed throughout the project life cycle.
Configuration management offers many benefits. It reduces the opportunity for scope creep, and it controls costs and schedule slides via evaluation. It also provides an audit trail for analyzing causes to problems, developing lessons learned, and conducting project reviews and audits.
for Configuration Management
Establish cost, schedule, and performance baselines.- Provide infrastructure for capturing and evaluating changes.
- Establish and follow procedures for configuration documenting and reporting.
- Maintain a good audit trail.
- Determine the standards for evaluations (e.g., contract terms).
- Follow accounting of configuration elements.
- Publish reports regularly.