Quiz

• List the Stages of Software Configuration Management?

• Discuss/Explain any 2
Software Configuration Management
Art of coordinating software development to minimize confusions

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CONFIGURATION
MANAGEMENT
Software Configuration
Identification
(Definition)
Control
(Manage Change)
Accounting
(Status Reporting)
Auditing
(Maintain Integrity)
Management Plan
(SCMP)
Continuous improvement throughout the product lifecycle

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CM Plan SCMP and Standards

• SCMP is the document that records how the different SCM functions • Almost all SCM standards advocate some sort of a document or plan.
will be performed. • Except for some minor differences, the format specified by most of
the standards for the SCMP is similar
• The CM plan is like a guidebook for a CM program
• defines procedures, organizational responsibilities, and tools
to be used within the CM process.
• it is the backbone of a CM program
• must either include well-developed, detailed procedures or
refer to their locations in other documents.

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 Format of SCMP per IEEE Std-828–1998 Format of SCMP per ISO 10007
No. Chapter Name Description
No. Section Name Description
1 Introduction Purpose of the plan, scope, definition of key terms, and references. 1 Introduction Description of the system or CIs to which the plan applies, a schedule of the CM
2 SCM ManagementDescribes the allocation of responsibilities and authorities for SCM activities to activities, the purpose and scope of the plan, list of related documents, and so on.
organizations and individuals within the project structure.
2 Policies and CM policies, CM organization and structure of the CCB and the other committees,
3 SCM Activities Identifies all functions and tasks required for managing the configuration of the
Procedures selection criteria for the CIs, frequency, distribution, and control of reports and
software system as specified in the scope of the SCMP. Both technical and
agreed terminology.
managerial SCM activities must be identified.
3 Configuration Family tree of the CIs, numbering conventions, baselines to be established, and so
4 SCM Schedules Establishes the sequence and coordination for the identified SCM activities and for Identification on.
all events affecting the SCMP’s implementation.
4 Configuration Organization and composition of the CCB, change management procedures, and so
5 SCM Resources Identifies the software tools, techniques, equipment, personnel, and training Control on.
necessary for the implementation of the specified SCM activities.
5 CSA Procedures for collecting, recording, processing, and maintaining the data for
6 SCMP Identifies the activities and responsibilities necessary to ensure continued SCM status accounting reports, definition of all CM reports, and so on.
Maintenance planning during the life cycle of the project. 6 CA List of audits to be conducted, the audit procedures, the authorities and
disciplines involved, format of the audit reports, and so on.
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Contents of a Typical SCMP – Initial Pages Contents of a Typical SCMP – Chp 01

i. Cover Page 1.0 INTRODUCTION
• An overview of the plan, the SCM activities, the audience for the plan, and how to use the plan, so that the user will have a
• This page should have the title “SCMP” and details on the project such as the clearer understanding of the plan. The introduction should contain at least the following four topics: purpose, scope,
organization, the authorities, the version number, and the release date. definitions, and references

1.1 Purpose
ii. Copyright Page • Addresses the need for the plan and the intended audience.
• This page should list the copyright information of the SCMP
1.2 Scope
• Covers the plan’s applicability, limitations, and assumptions. This section provides an overview of the software development
iii. Distribution List process in the project or organization and how the SCM functions and activities fit into the project.
• This page should include the name and number of copies distributed and a
description of how the documentation control activities will apply to this document 1.3 Definitions
• Defines the key terms used in the document.

iv. About the Document 1.4 References

• A short description of the document and its sections • Identifies all documents, standards, and external and internal procedures to be used in the plan. This section also identifies
where the documents can be found so that the readers of the plan can retrieve them.

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Contents of a Typical SCMP – Chp 02 Contents of a Typical SCMP – Chp 02

2.0 SCM MANAGEMENT 2.3 Relationship of SCM to the Software Process Life Cycle
• Gives information on the organization of the SCM team and the allocation of responsibilities to teams and • Relates the SCM activities to the different phases of the software development life cycle. It spells
individuals, among other management topics. out what SCM activities need to be performed during each phase of the life cycle.

2.1 SCM Organization

• Describes the organizational structure of the SCM team and how it fits into the organizational structure with 2.4 Interfaces to Other Organizations on the Project
respect to other groups such as the project team, the QA team, and top management. • Describes how the SCM team will interact with other organizations in the project such as QA, test, project
• Also included in the structure are clients (customers and vendors) and subcontractors, if any are involved in the management, and requirements and including vendors and subcontractors.
SCM activities.
2.5 SCM Responsibilities of the Organizations
2.2 SCM Responsibilities • Describes the responsibilities—or what is expected—of the vendors, subcontractors, and other organizations
• Describes the duties and responsibilities of all those involved in carrying out the SCM activities. in relation to the carrying out of SCM functions.
• This section identifies the responsibilities of the CCB and other committees and boards necessary for CM, the
structure of which is defined in the previous section.

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 Contents of a Typical SCMP – Chp 03 Contents of a Typical SCMP – Chp 03
3.0 SCM ACTIVITIES 3.2 Configuration Control
• Identifies the tasks and functions that are required to manage the configuration of the system as specified in the scope • Explains the change management processes such as change initiation, change disposition,
of the plan. This section deals with the core SCM activities and how they are performed in the project.
change implementation, reviews, approval, and baselining.

3.1 Configuration Identification

3.2.1 Change Initiation
• Describes how to identify, name, and document the functional and physical characteristics of the CIs. Once the items
are identified, they are acquired and moved into the controlled environment. • Describes how to initiate a change. A change can be the result of a fault or problem or the result of an
enhancement or new feature.
• This section describes the procedures to be followed to initiate a CR or PR so that the change management
3.1.1 Identification of CIs activities are started.
• Identifies the items to be selected as CIs that will be controlled by the SCM activities. This section gives a list of CIs in
the project. Inclusion of a tree structure showing the various CIs and their interdependencies is ideal.
3.1.2 Naming CIs 3.2.2 Change Evaluation
• Specifies the identification system, naming conventions, version numbers, and letters used to identify the CIs. • Describes how the evaluation of a CR is carried out, including details on handling problem analysis and problem
3.1.3 Acquiring CIs classification. The section details how to classify the changes or problems and how to do an impact analysis,
among other relevant information.
• Describes how the CIs are to be stored, how access to them will be controlled, the details of the configuration libraries,
the procedures for check in and check out of CIs from the library, and other related information.

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Contents of a Typical SCMP – Chp 03 Contents of a Typical SCMP – Chp 03

3.2.3 Change Management
3.3 CSA
• Describes how a CR is processed. It spells out clearly procedures such as those for receiving CRs, assigning CRs for evaluation,
CCB meetings, and dispositioning the CRs carried out. • Details the recording the status of the CIs and reporting them to people who need to know
about them.
3.2.4 Change Implementation 3.3.1 Identification of Information Needs
• Once the CR is approved it has to be implemented. Selecting the change implementation team or person, conducting • Describes the information requirements of the project, including what kind of information is required, who requires it,
verification and validation, and promoting the item to the new baseline are described in this section. the nature of the requirement (e.g., routine or ad hoc), and the frequency of the reports.

3.3.2 Information Gathering Mechanisms

3.2.5 CCBs
• Explains how status accounting information is gathered.
• This is the apex body that decides the fate of the change requests. This section describes the functioning of the CCB.
• Ideally the information should be entered into the CMDB by the initiators of the SCM activities rather than by the SCM
• If multiple CCBs are present, the authority of each CCB must be specified and if more than one CCB of the same authority is person chasing the activities and updating the status accounting data.
present in the project, then conflict resolution mechanisms also should be documented. • For example, when a CR is initiated, if the person who initiates the CR creates a record of that in the database, the job
of information gathering is easy. However, to accomplish this, the necessary forms and access privileges should be given
to the different users of the system.
• This section describes the exact mechanism of capturing the information for status reporting.

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Contents of a Typical SCMP – Chp 03 Contents of a Typical SCMP – Chp 03

3.3.3 Reports, Their Contents, and Frequency
3.4 Configuration Auditing
• Describes the various reports that will be created, their contents, and the frequency of each report.
• Describes, for example, what types of audits are to be performed, the audit procedure,
frequency, and the auditing authority.

3.3.4 Access to Status Accounting Data 3.4.1 Audits To Be Performed

• The status accounting function cannot anticipate all of the information requirements of users and produce reports to meet • Describes the different types of audits that will be performed and when they will be performed. Typical audits
all requirements. Also, in many cases, information requests will be for ad hoc reports, which may be generated only once. If include FCAs, PCAs, subcontractor audits, and external audits.
the status accounting system is computerized, then an interactive query facility can be made available to users to get this
information. If such a facility is available, this section will describe the procedures for using that facility. In the case of manual 3.4.2 CIs Under Audit
processing, this section will describe how the manual records can be accessed for ad hoc information needs.
• Specifies the list of CIs that are to be audited.

3.3.5 Status Accounting Information Dissemination Methods 3.4.3 Audit Procedures

• Describes the procedure to be followed for each audit, including the auditing authority, the documents required,
• Describes how and to whom the status accounting information will be disseminated.
how the audit should be conducted, and the format of the audit report.

3.3.6 Release Details 3.4.4 Audit Follow-Up Activities

• Details information such as what is contained in a release, to whom the release is being provided and when, the media the • Describes the activities that should be carried out after the audit such as resolution of NCRs.
release is on, known problems with the release, known fixes in the release, and installation instructions.
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 Contents of a Typical SCMP – Chp 03 Contents of a Typical SCMP – Chp 04
3.5 Interface Control 4.0 SCM SCHEDULES
• Describes the coordination of the changes to the CIs with the changes to the interfacing items
outside the scope of the plan like the hardware system, off-the-shelf packages, and support
software. • Describes the sequence of the SCM activities, their interdependencies and relationship to the
project life cycle, and project milestones.
• The schedule will identify the life cycle phases or project milestones where the different
3.6 Subcontractor or Vendor Control baselines (e.g., functional baseline, allocated baseline, and product baseline) will be
• Describes the activities necessary to incorporate the items developed outside the project established.
environment into the project environment, in particular, items that are the responsibility of • This section also establishes the schedule for the different CAs. Graphical representation using
subcontractors and vendors. PERT charts or Gantt charts help to enhance the usefulness of this section
• This section should describe the SCM functions and activities that should be followed by the
vendor or subcontractor, mechanisms to ensure that they are followed, procedures to audit the
items that are submitted by the vendor or subcontractor, and the items that must be supplied
by the vendor or subcontractor.

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Contents of a Typical SCMP – Chp 05 & 06

5.0 SCM RESOURCES
• Identifies the software tools, techniques, equipment, personnel, budget, and training necessary
for the implementation of the specified SCM activities.

6.0 SCMP MAINTENANCE

• Describes the activities that are required to keep the plan current during the life cycle of the
project.
CM Plan Examples/Templates
• The plan should be monitored and synchronized with the activities of the project.
• This section describes the mechanism for synchronization and identifies the person or team
responsible for those activities.

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QUESTIONS

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