Description / Abstract:
FOREWORD
Configuration Management (CM) is the s p e d name that has been
coined to describe those specialized management practices used by
industry and the Department of Defense @OD) to define and control
items (sometimes refmed to as Configuration Items or CIS) in their
inventories. The overail intent of configuraton management is to
support the establishment of a product service network for all
items being developed and to assure the continued serviceability of
the item as changes are made throughout their service We.
The configuration of an item is deñned in both hctionai and
physical terms. Functional requirements establish the pdormance the
item is expected to achieve; the physical requirements define the
specific design and appearance of the item to be built. In
practice, an item being developed is described, and its development
governed, primarily by its intended fiinctionai. characteristics.
Following development, however, an item being Droduced for customer
use is primarily described and governed by its phvsicai
characteristics, although the functional characteristics continue
to be controlled.
The practices we foliow with configuration management are
nothing starhg or brand new. Basically, they are common sense
management concepts that have been formalized into set practices to
address the peculiarities of managing large inventories of units in
multiple product lines. For convenience sake in describing the
practices, CM is divided into four functional areas:
identification, audits, control, and status amounting. Each of the
four functions has a specific purpose and a specific area of
emphasis.