A structured menu of software configuration management

This paper addresses the selecting of tasks which when executed properly, will provide the identification, control, auditing and status accounting functions necessary in order for establishing an all inclusive software configuration management structure. Most important the installation of a well structured software configuration management offers the buyer and seller protection against the myriad problems that often beset software development and maintenance projects that, if left unaccountable, can easily spell project disaster. This article states the candidate software configuration management (SCM) tasks to be performed during the software development life cycle. In performing the planning for SCM for any particular project, the tasks are in relationship to the statement of work for the development effort. With quality, in mind and a cost effective approach, only the tasks imposed by the contract will be selected from the candidate tasks and subtasks. This paper addresses major tasks, with each major task having its own esoteric subtasks. The major tasks presented in this paper are: 1. preparation of the SCM PLAN, 2. management of the SCM efforts, 3. performance of SCM configuration identification, 4. performance of SCM configuration control, 5. performance of SCM configuration status accounting, 6. support of SCM configuration audits