Configuration management is a support process that spans the complete life cycle of an IT system. This report concentrates on the aspects of configuration management that are applicable during the development stages, i.e. from initiation up the stage when the system is ready for release into production. Configuration management following release, i.e. service management is not included within the scope of this report.
The prime objective of this report is to provide the reader with a comprehensive view of the various configuration management processes, how they relate to the development process and their relationship with configuration management tools.
This report aims to highlight the importance of defining a configuration management process and then identifies the various issues to address in attempting to automate some of the processes using configuration management tools.
This report will:
Provide a brief account of recent developments that have helped to increase the importance and profile of configuration management. This account will trace the changes in the architecture of IT systems and highlight the extra challenges posed by the move from single vendor centralised monolithic IT systems to multi-vendor distributed systems.
Provide a brief definition of configuration management and its processes. This report will identify the various processes that make up configuration management. Specify their inter-relationships and how they apply to the development life cycle and the resources involved.
Provide an overview of the challenges that will be encountered when implementing configuration management system. Developers, managers, and testers support staff and users will operate or participate in the configuration management process. This report will explore the cultural challenges that will be encountered. A configuration management system aims to control change and movement of configuration items across the organisation, from the user to developers to testers to operation and then into the final production environment. This report will identify the organisational challenges that will be encountered while implementing the configuration management system. Configuration management will be used to control physical configuration items, operating system files or code in a repository for example. This report will identify the main technical challenges that may be encountered.
Provide an outline description of the various configuration management processes followed by a more detailed specification of each process. A configuration management system must specify what each process must deliver as well as how this process must be performed. This report will specify an outline definition of what each configuration management process should perform.
Provide a proposed approach to implementing configuration management within an organisation. This will identify the essential steps, their sequence and the main issues to consider.
Provide an outline description of the main types of configuration management tools that are used within development and outline their main features. The report will focus on the main features that are essential to implementing a configuration management system and provide a framework for assessing and understanding the basic features of the tools surveyed by this report.
Provide a summary of features of the major configuration management tools. This summary is based on the outcome of a survey of the various tools and on the responses of the individual vendors. It does not represent the results of an evaluation of the individual tools.
This report can be divided into three distinct sections;
Overview of configuration management. This is a high level description of configuration management identifying the processes and why they are required. These sections are targeted at senior IT managers, users and those with a mandate to implement the configuration management solution.
Overview of the available technology. This is a detailed description of the types of configuration management tools specifying their features and usage. These sections are targeted at project managers and those with the mandate to implement the configuration management system.
Implementation strategy. This contains a description of the main tasks required to implement a configuration management system. These sections are targeted at senior IT managers, users and those with a mandate to implement the configuration management system.
High level case studies are provided to support this report. These are targeted at all readers.
· IT systems are becoming complex. The move to multi-vendor distributed systems introduces many technical and management challenges that must be managed to ensure effective and trouble free system implementation and usage.
· Configuration management is a process that spans the complete life span of an IT system and affects all those who are involved. The configuration management process must interface with development and support procedures and must be able to support the technical methods and tools being used.
· Managers, developers, support staff and users are all involved in the configuration management process. A successful must be able to support the requirements of all the users regardless of the platform that they use.
· Many configuration management tools are available that can be used to support the configuration management process. Despite recent development, such tools still rely on good configuration management and development procedures and cannot be relied upon to automate all the configuration management processes.
· The implementation of a configuration management system represents a considerable investment in time and effort and will only deliver the expected benefits if the process is applied to all deliverables and is supported by effective education and training.
· Configuration management tools can be classified into first generation or second generation tools. First generation tools are very easy to install and implement whilst second generation tools provide a more sophisticated solution at a much higher price.
· Organisations that aim to replace their applications to account for the “millennium” effect will need to initiate major projects to redevelop replacement applications. These are likely to be on a new platform, networks rather than mainframes for example. The organisation will have to ensure that the new system replicates the functionality of the system being replaced. This process is likely to be complicated by the fact that the “legacy” system is likely to be under change to meet changing business or regulatory needs.
· Selecting the right level at which to apply configuration management is crucial. Too much configuration management becomes over bureaucratic; too little risks loss of control.
· The term configuration management is now becoming common place, however the exact definition and characteristics of a configuration management system are not yet globally formalised. This lack of formality is increased by the liberal interpretation of configuration management by users and vendors and by the ever-increasing number of tools that are being offered as configuration management solutions.