Archive for category ITSLM
Differentiating Configuration Items from Components
Posted by Mark in CMCrossroads, Configuration Management, Plain Old Blog, Software Configuration Management on November 17, 2009
Configuration management literature is replete with references to something called a ‘configuration item’ and most attempt to explain what a configuration item is. Despite this there remains confusion. “Should all files in my software system be a configuration item?” is a common enough question to raise concern that the concept of configuration item is not [...]
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.
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, [...]
Forensic Configuration Management
Posted by Mark in Configuration Management, ITSLM, Plain Old Blog on September 21, 2009
One of the things about being a freelance consultant is that you often get to see projects when they are at their worst ebb. After all, one is seldom called in to solve non-problems. The basic pattern of a contract goes like this. Work out what is going on. Work out how it got that [...]
What is configuration management?
Posted by Mark in Configuration Management, Plain Old Blog on September 16, 2009
Configuration management is four things. Identification Change control Status accounting Auditing Nothing more, nothing less. Derived disciplines such as software configuration management, product data management and so on, are always based on these four functions.
Standards & Frameworks: The Good, Bad, and Ugly
Standards and frameworks are, simultaneously, the biggest help and biggest hindrance to implementing effective life-cycle management.
Is Configuration Management the right name?
Posted by Mark in Configuration Management, Plain Old Blog, Software Configuration Management on August 11, 2009
Too often we see the name Configuration Management or Software Configuration Management applied to a team when in fact they perform a whole range of functions supporting IT system development. This has lead to a gradual bastardisation of the term Configuration Management to the point that the term has lost its original, focused meaning and [...]
Simple, complex and difficult
As a discipline IT systems lifecycle can be characterised as simple, complex and difficult. Simple to explain. Complex to commission and maintain because the systems it monitors and controls are increasingly complex and dynamic. Difficult to do because IT system lifecycle management is much more than a set of process and tools. It involves many [...]
Be careful what you wish for…
Posted by Mark in ITSLM, Plain Old Blog on July 12, 2009
Selecting metrics is difficult. It is difficult because you can end up influencing that which you measure. People tend, not unreasonably, to do whatever presents them in the best light. Measure someone’s performance as the number of widgets they produce, and they produce more widgets, but without a governing quality measure you could reasonably expect [...]
Writing documents that people will read
One common complaint, and one to which I have fallen prey in the past, is that “no one reads the documentation”. This seems to be a particular problem for documents recording process and procedure. In this series we will look at how you can write documents that people will actually read. We will look at [...]
