Archive for October, 2009
What is Software Configuration Management?
Posted by Mark in CMCrossroads, Plain Old Blog on October 14, 2009
A while ago I wrote a post ‘What is Configuration Management?’ in which I outlined the four principles of configuration management. This prompted several readers to ask, ‘what about software configuration management?’. Software configuration management differs from the core configuration management discipline in detail only. It is common for organisations to include disciplines like build [...]
The importance of release identities
Posted by Mark in CMCrossroads, Plain Old Blog, Release Management on October 13, 2009
Having carefully avoided ‘release numbers’ in the title of this post, I shall now proceed to describe a release numbering scheme. The specifics of release numbering schemes are endlessly discussed. Each proponent of a specific scheme believing that their scheme is the best. I shall be no different.
IT Leaders must be business people?
Posted by Mark in Business, CMCrossroads, Plain Old Blog on October 9, 2009
Over recent years there has been an increasing emphasis placed on IT leaders being business oriented. While I wholeheartedly agree that IT leaders need to be business aware I believe the emphasis on business capabilities is being emphasised to the detriment of the IT skills required. We are ending up with pure business people making [...]
Streams versus Branches
Posted by Mark in CMCrossroads, Plain Old Blog on October 2, 2009
The configuration management community have no universally accepted definition of either Stream or Branch; here are my working definitions of these two terms. A branch refers to how version histories appear when two versions share a common ancestor. A stream is a management notion. Streams define work flow, usually within projects. A stream may be [...]
Software Configuration Management: An Investement in Product Integrity
Posted by Mark in Book Review, CMCrossroads, Plain Old Blog, Software Configuration Management on October 1, 2009
For me, this book holds a special significance. This is the very first book I ever read that dealt exclusively with software configuration management. For me, this book started a career and lifelong passion for software product integrity and software configuration management in particular. Title: Software Configuration Management: An Investment in Product Integrity Authors: Bersoff, [...]
