Configuration Management

in International Standards
Configuration Management in
International Standards
 Numerous international standards and guidelines cover software development
and, hence, configuration management.
 Many standards are related to a specific type of product.
 Almost all include a safety aspect, as the product types they deal with are
classified as safety-critical in one way or another.
 Standards and guidelines reflect the experience of many experts, and using
them may serve a number of purposes.
 It may, for instance, inspire confidence in customers toward the products and
provide producers with help and inspiration in the production process.
Overview of Related Standards
 BS 6488-84
 Code of Practice for Configuration Management of Computer-Based Systems.
 This British standard defines configuration management as
 the discipline of identifying all components and their relationships in a continually
evolving system (taking into account relevant system interfaces) for the purpose of
maintaining integrity, traceability and control over change throughout the life
cycle.
 DoD Mil-Std-973
 This Department of Defense standard defines configuration management as a
discipline that applies technical and administrative direction and surveillance over
the life cycle of items to:
 Identify and document the functional and physical characteristics of configuration
items.
 Control changes to configuration items and their related documentation.
  Record and report information needed to manage configuration items effectively,
including the status of proposed changes and the implementation status of
approved changes.
 Audit configuration items to verify conformance to specifications, drawings,
interface control documents, and other contractual requirements.
 IEEE-Std-610.12-1990
 The IEEE standard includes definitions of "all" terms for software engineering,
among which are many related to configuration management.
 The standard defines configuration management as a discipline applying technical
and administrative direction and surveillance to:
 identify and document the functional and physical characteristics of a
configuration item,
 control changes to those characteristics,
 record and report change processing and implementation status,
 and verify compliance with specified requirements.
 ISO 9001:1994
 It is a standard for quality systems with a relatively broad field of application.
 It is based on the definition of quality as "The degree to which a system, component, or
process meets customer or user needs or expectations."
 The standard covers development, production, and delivery of products and/or services.
 ISO 9001 is a general standard, not particularly aimed at software. The words
"configuration management" do not appear in the standard, and the concept is therefore
not defined. It is, however, possible to find implicit requirement for configuration
management.
 Design and development changes shall be identified, records maintained, reviewed, and
approved.
 This implies that the basis for the changes shall be known and controlled.
 Relevant documents and data shall—in practice—be placed under configuration
management.
 Products shall, if it is required, be identified in order to enable traceability.
 Records of the review and test status for products shall be maintained.
 Nonconforming products shall be controlled.
 ISO 9000-3
 It is a guideline for using ISO 9001:1994 for software development.
 After the release of ISO 9001:2000, ISO 9000-3 is no longer valid but is still of interest to
many companies.
 It contains a description of configuration management.
 Configuration management provides a mechanism for identifying, controlling and tracking
the versions of each software item.
 The configuration management system should
a. identify uniquely the versions of each software item;
b. identify the versions of each software item which together constitute a specific version of
a complete product;
c. identify the build status of software products in development or delivered and installed;
d. control simultaneous updating of a given software item by more than one person; provide
coordination for the updating of multiple products in one or more locations as required;
e. provide coordination for the updating of multiple products in one or more locations as
required;
f. identify and track all actions and changes resulting from a change request, from initiation
through release
Summary
 The purpose of software configuration management is to plan, organise,
control and co-ordinate the identification, storage and change of software
through development, integration and transfer.
 Every project must establish a software configuration management system.
 All software items, for example documentation, source code, executable
code, files, tools, test software and data, must be subjected to software
configuration management.
 Change Control is a formal system for the control of all system changes. This
procedure should apply to documentation, hardware, software, and network
configuration.