Lars Bendix:
Challenges in Configuration Management,
at NACSA, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, August 16, 1999.

Abstract:
Configuration management is singled out, but the SEI CMM and others, as one of the fundamental capabilities required to move an organisation away from immaturity. In this lecture we will first distinguish some of the problems that configuration management is supposed to handle. Then we will show that there do indeed exist various valid solutions to these problems. And, finally, we will discuss the proper way to select the right solution and implement it.

The challenges when developing software are many and varied. Those that fall in the category of configuration management all have to do with changes. Without changes life would be a whole lot easier. However, often we have to maintain several old releases at the same time as we continue development of a product. Sometimes the product must be developed for more platforms. With the globalisation today, it is not unusual to see development carried out by distributed groups. Important aspects of configuration management include being able to reproduce previous products or parts of them. Furthermore, changes must be co-ordinated and proper information communicated to all involved.

Solutions to the problems in configuration management are just as many and varied as the problems themselves. There exist a whole range of both free and commercial tools and environments. No single tool covers all aspects of configuration management, they all have some version and configuration capabilities and then they build a special focus on top of that.

Selecting the right solution is not an easy task for a company. There does not exist such a thing as "the" best tool, each organisation has its special needs and thus requires a special solution. The particular needs have to be analysed and a first solution designed. Then tools can be evaluated with respect to this designed solution and then a tool can be selected and a pilot project implementation can be done before the solution is migrated to the whole organisation. We sketch a framework that can provide help in carrying out this systematically.