Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Configuration Management is concerned with the integrity of the product. It isn’t complicated. It may not, however, be liked by all.

I had a conversation with a co-worker recently about configuration management (CM). We had sat through a series of meetings where CM was tossed about in a swirl of angst and confusion.

Let’s settle a bit and review some basics.

A person on the project creates a product; let’s use a procedure the person wrote as a simple example. Several persons have reviewed the procedure and agree that it meets the requirements of the project. The person brings the procedure to the CM Control Board (a gathering of people).

Person: I present this procedure to you for configuration control.

CM Manager: Do all present today agree that this procedure meets the requirements of the project?

Everyone nods, “Yes.”

CM Manager: I hereby accept this procedure and place it under configuration control (the person doesn’t have to use the word “hereby,” but I tossed that in because it sounds formal and official and such 😉

The CM Manager puts the procedure, both paper copy and soft copy on CD, into a locked file cabinet. If possible, the CM Manager puts a copy of the procedure on a computer system where other project members may access it in a read-only format.

If anyone wants a printed copy of the procedure, they either go to the CM Manager for the copy or they print if from the read-only computer.

If the person who wrote the procedure decides to change his copy and pass it around to others, he is committing a serious breach of protocol on the project. He is reprimanded; anything from “Don’t do that,” to “You’re fired.”

If the procedure needs changing (many people agree to that), the person who created it makes those changes. That person and all the other people go back to the CM Manager.

Person: I present to you the procedure with all the changes requested by all these important people on the project.

CM Manager: Do all you important, responsible people who have proper authority agree that this changed procedure is correct and meets the new needs of the project?

Everyone nods, “Yes.”

CM Manager: I hereby…well you know the rest.

The CM Manager then puts the changed procedure in the right place with the right accesses.

If anyone wants a copy of the changed procedure, well, you get the picture. There is one controlled copy of the procedure. Any other copy of the procedure is suspect.

The system preserves the integrity of the procedure.

“But,” you may object, “this is a slow process. What if I want to change the procedure real fast?”

Yes, this is a slow process. It is also a slowing process in that it forces anyone who wants to change the procedure think a while and convince authoritative people to think a while before changing the procedure. Time and thinking are not perfect, but they help prevent mistakes. And we make lots of mistakes, especially when moving fast.