Configuration Management Best Practices

Successfully Implement High-Value Configuration Management Processes in Any Development Environment As IT systems have grown increasingly complex and mission-critical, effective configuration management (CM) has become critical to an organization’s success. Using CM best practices, IT professionals can systematically manage change, avoiding unexpected problems introduced by changes to hardware, software, or networks. Now, today’s best CM practices have been gathered in one indispensable resource showing you how to implement them throughout any agile or traditional development organization. Configuration Management Best Practices is practical, easy to understand and apply, and fully reflects the day-to-day realities faced by practitioners. Bob Aiello and Leslie Sachs thoroughly address all six “pillars” of CM: source code management, build engineering, environment configuration, change control, release engineering, and deployment. They demonstrate how to implement CM in ways that support software and systems development, meet compliance rules such as SOX and SAS-70, anticipate emerging standards such as IEEE/ISO 12207, and integrate with modern frameworks such as ITIL, COBIT, and CMMI. Coverage includes Using CM to meet business objectives, contractual requirements, and compliance rules Enhancing quality and productivity through lean processes and “just-in-time” process improvement Getting off to a good start in organizations without effective CM Implementing a Core CM Best Practices Framework that supports the entire development lifecycle Mastering the “people” side of CM: rightsizing processes, overcoming resistance, and understanding workplace psychology Architecting applications to take full advantage of CM best practices Establishing effective IT controls and compliance Managing tradeoffs and costs and avoiding expensive pitfalls Configuration Management Best Practices is the essential resource for everyone concerned with CM: from CTOs and CIOs to development, QA, and project managers and software engineers to analysts, testers, and compliance professionals.

Stereotypes portray software engineers as a reckless lot, and stereotypes paint software configuration management (SCM) devotees as inflexible. Based on these impressions, it is no wonder that projects can be riddled with tension! The truth probably lies somewhere in between these stereotypes, and this book shows how proven SCM practices can foster a healthy team-oriented culture that produces better software. The authors show that workflow, when properly managed, can avert delays, morale problems, and cost overruns. A patterns approach (proven solutions to recurring problems) is outlined so that SCM can be easily applied and successfully leveraged in small to medium sized organizations. The patterns are presented with an emphasis on practicality. The results speak for themselves: improved processes and a motivated workforce that synergize to produce better quality software.

Anne Mette Jonassen Hass explains the principles and benefits of a sound configuration management strategy. This volume is designed to help the professional put that strategy into action.

The overwhelming majority of a software system’s lifespan is spent in use, not in design or implementation. So, why does conventional wisdom insist that software engineers focus primarily on the design and development of large-scale computing systems? In this collection of essays and articles, key members of Google’s Site Reliability Team explain how and why their commitment to the entire lifecycle has enabled the company to successfully build, deploy, monitor, and maintain some of the largest software systems in the world. You’ll learn the principles and practices that enable Google engineers to make systems more scalable, reliable, and efficient—lessons directly applicable to your organization. This book is divided into four sections: Introduction—Learn what site reliability engineering is and why it differs from conventional IT industry practices Principles—Examine the patterns, behaviors, and areas of concern that influence the work of a site reliability engineer (SRE) Practices—Understand the theory and practice of an SRE’s day-to-day work: building and operating large distributed computing systems Management—Explore Google's best practices for training, communication, and meetings that your organization can use

Best Practices in Configuration Management to Ensure Quality Many organizations are invoking a new kind of management technique – Configuration Management – meant to ensure a product maintains its originally intended design, materials, composition, and processing throughout its entire lifecycle. This method moves away from current supply chain thinking, in which products often undergo countless changes throughout the process. Configuration Management: Implementation, Principles, and Applications for Manufacturing Industries decreases the risk of safety breaches and timely and expensive changes, while preserving the quality of the end product. This volume provides businesses with the management objectives necessary for survival in today’s corporate structure. Examines the Lost Tribal Wisdom of Project Management This valuable guide emphasizes that configuration management is driven by designers, not by the often unpredictable whims of end-users. It also addresses ways to overcome missing tribal wisdom – the tendency to fall into the new-newer-newest syndrome, always looking for the next great technology, software, etc. The book contains more than 60 reader-friendly tables, figures, and checklists to help bolster understanding of these and other discussed management concepts. The author emphasizes these foundational principles: Configuration management is designed to turn perception into reality If changes are made to configuration items, the safety of the product could be breached Configuration item selections must be made by a team, not by one person or department In addition to providing an unprecedented overview of this groundbreaking management style, this text presents case studies in which an understanding of configuration management principles would have saved valuable time and financial resources. It effectively provides the knowledge base industrial, project management, and Lean engineers need to learn, implement, and apply the tried-and-trusted strategies of configuration management in any company.

An effective systems development and design process is far easier to explain than it is to implement. A framework is needed that organizes the life cycle activities that form the process. This framework is Configuration Management (CM). Software Configuration Management discusses the framework from a standards viewpoint, using the original

Configuration Management Metrics: Product Lifecycle and Engineering Documentation Control Process Measurement and Improvement provides a comprehensive discussion of measurements for configuration management/product lifecycle processes. Each chapter outlines one of the most important measures of merit – the need for written policy and procedures. The best of the best practices as to the optimum standards are listed with an opportunity for the reader to check off those that their company has and those they do not. The book first defines the concept of configuration management (CM) and explains its importance. It then discusses the important metrics in the major CM and related processes. These include: new item release; order entry/fulfillment; request for change; bill of material change cost; and field change. Ancillary processes which may or may not be thought of as part of these major processes are also addressed, including deviations, service parts, publications and field failure reporting. Provides detailed guidance on developing and implementing measurement systems and reports Demonstrates methods of graphing and charting data, with benchmarks A practical resource for the development of Engineering Documentation Control processes Includes basic principles of Product Lifecycle processes and their measurement