A system can be defined as the combination of interacting elements organized to achieve one or more stated purposes [1]. The configuration of a system is the functional and physical characteristics of hardware or software as set forth in technical documentation or achieved in a product [1]; it can also be thought of as a collection of specific versions of hardware, firmware, or software items combined according to specific build procedures to serve a particular purpose. Configuration management (CM), then, is the discipline of identifying the configuration of a system at distinct points in time for the purpose of systematically controlling changes to the configuration and maintaining the integrity and traceability of the configuration throughout the system life cycle. It is formally defined as
"A discipline applying technical and administrative direction and surveillance to: identify and document the functional and physical characteristics of a configuration item, control changes to those characteristics, record and report change processing and implementation status, and verify compliance with specified requirements."
Software configuration management (SCM) is a supporting-software life cycle process that benefits project management, development and maintenance activities, quality assurance activities, as well as the customers and users of the end product.
The concepts of configuration management apply to all items to be controlled, although there are some differences in implementation between hardware CM and software CM.
SCM is closely related to the software quality assurance (SQA) activity. As defined in the Software Quality knowledge area (KA), SQA processes provide assurance that the software products and processes in the project life cycle conform to their specified requirements by planning, enacting, and performing a set of activities to provide adequate confidence that quality is being built into the software. SCM activities help in accomplishing these SQA goals. In some project contexts, specific SQA requirements prescribe certain SCM activities
The SCM activities are management and planning of the SCM process, software configuration identification, software configuration control, software configuration status accounting, software configuration auditing, and software release management and delivery.
The Software Configuration Management KA is related to all the other KAs, since the object of configuration management is the artifact produced and used throughout the software engineering process.
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Published on : 30-May-2018
Ref no : DTC-WPUB-000042
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