A common question from people wanting to introduce configuration management into their organisation is, “How do I sell configuration management?” By this they mean, how do I convince the decision maker in my organisation to invest in configuration management?

The short answer should be, “configuration management should sell itself.” After all, if configuration management offers real benefits to an organisation then it should be a simple case of presenting those benefits to the decision makers and they should immediately instigate a programme of work to implement configuration managements. Ah, if only it were that easy.

The fundamental problem faced when selling configuration management is that very few people really understand what it is,  even fewer understand how it works and fewer still understand how to make it work in their organisation. Compounding this problem, there is no agreed definition of configuration management among practitioners. So, from this rather poor position we need to educate the audience before we can begin to sell the product.

Step 1: Define Configuration Management

The starting point is to define, for yourself, precisely what it is you want to implement. This could be as simple as selecting a definition of configuration management from among the many available, or as comprehensive as documenting all of the roles and responsibilities that fall under your configuration management function.

Step 2: Translate for your Audience

The technical description of configuration management will probably not appeal to the people who you are asking to pay for it. The customer will usually be either the business or senior IT management, neither of which will be interested in the details of configuration management.

Look for the specific and measurable benefits that configuration management will deliver to the business.

Step 3: Write the Business Case

This does not need to be particularly detailed but someone is bound to ask for one eventually. Writing the business case also helps to focus your attention on the important information required for step four.

Step 4: Create a Presentation

Create a short presentation making the case for configuration management. This should be no more than 20 minutes long, allowing ten minutes for questions in a half hour meeting.

Step 5: Make your Presentation

There’s no point creating all this documentation and presentations unless you actually present them. Make sure that you give everyone involved plenty of notice to reduce the chances of people being unable to attend. Give copies of the business case out at the end of the presentation (so make sure that the information in your presentation agrees with your business case).

Finally…

Throughout this process have plenty of ‘water cooler’ meetings with key stakeholders. You should use these informal meetings to check that you have considered each stakeholders objections and addressed them in your business case and presentation.

It’s as simple as that.