Archive for category ITSLM
Why you’re wrong…
Posted by Mark in CMCrossroads, Configuration Management, ITSLM, Plain Old Blog, Software Configuration Management on June 28, 2011
…if you think build, change, or release management are part of configuration management. Bob Aiello lit the blue touch paper (again) on the debate about ‘what is configuration management?’ and, once again, he seems to be trying to redefine configuration management to fit the role of Configuration Manager identified (incorrectly) in many organisations. This is absolutely the [...]
Building a CM system using Atlassian
Posted by Mark in Build Management, Change Management, CMCrossroads, Configuration Management, Plain Old Blog, Reviews, Software Configuration Management on May 7, 2011
I’m usually somewhat reluctant to make recommendations about specific tools, but every now and then something impresses me so much I feel I should at least draw attention to it. In the course of helping a client look for tools to support their development process I recalled that a couple of years ago I looked [...]
Contingent Configuration Management
Posted by Mark in CMCrossroads, Configuration Management on March 21, 2011
We find, among all the terminology in the configuration management arena, many terms being added to the basic CM acronym; Agile CM, Product CM, Software CM, Traditional/Classic CM, and so on. Well, I’d like to offer my own—Contingent CM. The problem with many of the other terms is their absolutism; ‘this is the right way’, [...]
CM discussion group
Posted by Mark in Body of Knowledge, Configuration Management, ITSLM, Parallel Development Principles, Plain Old Blog, Software Configuration Management, Version Control on February 17, 2011
At the end of last year I ran an experimental ‘live discussion’ under the banner ‘The Watercooler’. This was intended to help spark conversation with the hope of encouraging people of all abilities to contribute to the body of knowledge wiki. Given the modest success of that experimental session, I have planned a series of [...]
Challenges in community communication
Posted by Mark in Body of Knowledge, CMCrossroads on February 17, 2011
I do not think I am alone in finding it challenging to keep up with communities, even one as apparently specialised as software configuration management. This challenge is doubled when one is trying to contribute to these communities (and hold down a paying job). Perhaps my greatest personal challenge is a need to respond in [...]
Conversations and workshops
Posted by Mark in Body of Knowledge, CMCrossroads, General, ITSLM, Plain Old Blog, Principia Notifications, Tools 'n' Tips on December 10, 2010
I have, for some time, considered the possibilities of the Internet for the real-time exchange of ideas around the lifecycle management subject (config, change, release, problem, and project management, among others). In particular I have been pondering how to start a useful dialogue about the Lifecycle Management Body of Knowledge. I suspect that one of [...]
Keeping configuration separate in ANT
Posted by Mark in ANT, Build Management, Plain Old Blog on October 21, 2010
Actually, this advice holds for any software system, but in this article I am focussing on ANT. One often sees, in ANT scripts, something like this at the head of the build.xml file. So far, so good. The author of this ANT script has thought to define properties that control the script’s behaviour at the [...]
When is a change a change?
Posted by Mark in Build Management, Change Management, Configuration Management, Plain Old Blog, Software Configuration Management, Version Control on June 12, 2010
A change can be viewed in two ways; conceptually or literally. What I mean by this distinction is that when I say the requested change is to “correct spelling mistakes in the poem” I am specifying conceptually what the change is to achieve (and after the fact, what the change achieved). On the other hand [...]
Toward a CM Ontology
Posted by Mark in CMCrossroads, Configuration Management, Information Management, SCM Tool, Software Configuration Management on May 22, 2010
As I suggested in a previous post, I think the future of CM (and most especially SCM) lies substantially with the semantic web. My reasoning is simple; CM is about information management and this information needs to be shared, controlled and updated across increasingly more diverse organisations and systems. To provide this facility we need [...]
Absence, CM Tool, identities, and some thoughts on the future of CM
Posted by Mark in CMCrossroads, Configuration Management, ITSLM, Plain Old Blog, SCM Tool on April 7, 2010
Some of you may have noticed a bit of an hiatus in my posts. I’ve been a bit under the weather, feeling lethargic and run down, and not in a good frame of mind for writing. Lucky you, I am in the mood now. Remember a few posts back I mentioned working on a CMS [...]
