Configuration Management process

Configuration management

Configuration Management is the discipline essential to the development and operation of a product that ensures its integrity throughout the life cycle.

Configuration Management (CM) includes all activities related to the management of the development of products throughout their life cycle. This requires identifying, organizing and controlling the product changes in order to maximize productivity while minimizing errors and improving quality. Proper use of these concepts is essential for product development and customer satisfaction, so that enterprises should pay special attention to them.

Configuration Management as a process

Configuration Management process to identify the product configuration to systematically control changes to it and maintain its integrity throughout the project life cycle. The identification and documentation includes control, data and elements of the product.

Control efforts should ensure that all changes made to the configuration components, once they have been approved, made in a controlled manner at all times be known what is the current version of each. By this control facilitates the identification and integration of the configuration components that make up the deliverables of the project.

Some common problems that lead to the adoption of CM are:
* Can not find the latest version of a component.
* Fixed bugs in previous releases appear again.
* It is not known which components comprising the product delivered to the customer.
* The integration of the product takes too long.
* Incorrect versions of the components are tested.

In the CMMI model these activities are covered in the process area of the same name that is intended precisely to ensure the integrity of the product during its development. ITIL also covers configuration management from the point of view of operation of the service.