CM Automation

OVERVIEW

Automating software configuration management (CM) consists of all the steps involved in introducing a CM tool into an organization and ensuring that it is routinely used on all projects. Implementing an automated CM system is a complex process. It affects all levels of the organization; therefore, an in-depth evaluation of the organization is required to determine how the processes and people will be affected.

Failure to understand the issues involved in the automation of CM technology is the main reason why organizations do not successfully deploy the CM tool. A defined strategy that addresses these complex issues becomes a necessity. Before beginning the automation effort, organizations must consider complex technical issues that may affect the effort. These issues include:

  • The size and intricacy of the software system
  • Client/server and Web-based systems support
  • Heterogeneous hardware and software platforms
  • Tool integration
  • Legacy systems
  • Interfaces to external systems


AUTOMATING CM

Many organizations thought that purchasing an CM tool would solve their problems, but soon discovered that there was no "silver-bullet" CM tool. To attempt to automate an immature CM process will not raise an organization's level of maturity as defined by the SW-CMM. In all likelihood , such attempts would only further amplify any process shortcomings and inadequacies. "Automating a money-losing process allows you to lose more money faster and with greater accuracy" [Ventimiglia 1997]. A tool alone will not solve an organization's CM problems and, in fact, Brown et al. [1999] have referred to the impractical reliance on a software configuration management tool as the "silver-bullet antipattern." Choosing the right tool to satisfy an organization's CM requirements will in itself fail if other issues are not addressed. To ensure an effective CM solution, an organization must address the complexities that it faces when implementing a change. These complexities include:

  • Technical. These issues relate to how the tool operates, how it will be installed to maximize performance, and how it will be customized. For example, how will the tool be installed over the company's network in the client/server architecture given the different platforms, and how can it be used to suit the parallel development activities of the various teams ?
  • Managerial. These issues relate to the necessary planning, monitoring, setting of priorities, making of schedules, and resource management. For example, who will be allocated to fulfill the automation activities, how will the product schedules be affected, and who will implement the tool first?
  • Process related . These issues relate to the way the company does its business. For example, what is the current flow throughout the company, and how do the developers, testers, QA personnel, build managers, document writers, etc. work together to ensure this flow?
  • Organizational. These issues relate to the infrastructure in the company. For example, how will the tool affect the responsibilities of each department and their intercommunication?
  • Cultural. These issues relate to the way people operate and achieve their goals. For example, what kind of culture exists at the company, and what is the best way to invoke change in that culture?
  • Political. These issues relate to "who is stepping on whose toes." For example, how will the organizational boundaries change, who will be responsible for what, and how will people be rewarded based on making the change?
  • People related. These issues relate to people's comfort level. For example, how will resistance be managed, and will people lose their jobs because of this tool? This complexity is closely tied to the cultural issue.
  • Risk related. These issues relate to unknown information and tricky problems. For example, how will the effect of making concurrent changes, such as a new operating system and new hardware, as well as reengineering the legacy code, impact the new CM system [Dart 1994]?

The CM automation effort must be treated as a project with realistic goals and a defined schedule. CM automation can be successfully carried out using the phases listed below developed by Susan Dart, a former member of the environment team at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). The phases provide structured guidance, identify tasks , and address the complexities involved with automating CM. Key activities are carried out during each phase of the implementation. At all phases, it is important to reinforce management's commitment to the automation effort and to provide training.

The phases are as follows :

  • Phase 1: Preparation and Planning
  • Phase 2: Process Definition
  • Phase 3: Tool Evaluation
  • Phase 4: Pilot Project Implementation
  • Phase 5: Roll-out to Other Projects
  • Phase 6: Capture and Communicate Improvements

Phase 1 Preparation and Planning

This is the stage most organizations fail to perform, thereby resulting in the unsuccessful automation of CM. The purpose of this phase is to plan for the automation activities, to establish management support, and to assess the status of current CM activities.

First, a CM automation team is created. The automation team is responsible for implementing the automation strategy and plays an important role in the implementation effort. The team monitors and participates in all phases of the automation effort. Members of the automation team typically include:

  • A leader who is responsible for the automation effort
  • A sponsor who has the authority to empower the team and provide the support required to tackle difficult CM problems
  • A champion or technical expert who understands the technology
  • Representatives from the user community

The automation team begins by developing the CM automation plan. The plan details the benefits of CM, outlines the automation schedule and resources required, defines the policies and procedures involved in the automation effort, establishes success criteria, and establishes the roles of the automation team.

Next, the requirements are defined and prioritized. Developing a clear understanding of the organization's strategic goals is required to evaluate the CM requirements. The evaluation of CM requirements should not be conducted in a vacuum . All members of the organization who will be affected by CM must be surveyed to identify their CM requirements and to determine their roles in the CM process. Careful attention must be paid to the training requirements of all people affected by the CM tool, process, and procedures.

In addition, all levels of management must be aware of the benefits of CM. Many times, this involves showing financial and scheduling benefits, that is, increase in programmer productivity by automating CM tasks.

Next, an inventory of present hardware and software platforms is conducted and future hardware and software platforms are identified. And, finally, a risk management plan is developed. This plan identifies risks that could affect the outcome of the automation effort. The automation team is responsible for identifying and addressing risks throughout the project.

Phase 2 Process Definition

The goals of this phase are to define the current CM process, evaluate the process, and define a new, improved process if required. The process is then analyzed to identify which areas would benefit from automation. A defined software change process is pertinent to the successful implementation of CM. Without a defined process, the organization will make little progress in the adoption. A variety of methods exist to define the process. Additional information on process definition can be obtained from the SEI, IEEE, or the Software Technology Support Center. During this phase, process-related requirements will be identified. These should be added to the requirements developed in phase 1, as appropriate.

Phase 3 Tool Evaluation

This phase consists of matching the organization's requirement to CM tools. Before the evaluation begins, tool requirements identified in phase 1 are refined and prioritized. The evaluation method is chosen , and test scenarios required to test the capabilities of the tools are developed. It is important to include representatives from all users' groups in the evaluation to gain a better understanding of how different groups will use the tool. Results of a study conducted by the Gartner Group determined that the cost of the software tool represents only 10 percent of the total cost of implementing a solution. Lost productivity accounts for 50 percent, and the remaining 40 percent of the solution is derived from the cost of manpower [Softool 1992].

Many tool vendors are expanding the functionality of their tools to meet the requirements of today's software development organizations. Several companies sell their products as a series of components . For example, the case product handles version control and process control, whereas the problem reporting function may be purchased separately. State-of-the-art CM tools may contain the following features:

  • Version control
  • Configuration support
  • Process support
  • Change control
  • Team support
  • Library and repository support
  • Security and protection
  • Reporting and query
  • Tool integration
  • Build support
  • Release management
  • Customization support
  • Graphical user interfaces
  • Distributed development
  • Client-server development support
  • Web support

The CM process should first be defined before tool selection. The tool should implement or automate the defined processes. The tool alone should not be used to define a project's CM process or procedures. It may take as long as six months to completely understand the functionality of a CM tool.

When evaluating CM tools, it is important to assess not just the functionality and robustness of the tool, but the CM-readiness of the tool vendor as well. Appendix Y provides a "Supplier SM Market Analysis Questionnaire" that should be filled out by each potential CM vendor. The key question is: Does the CM tool vendor practice configuration management, or do we have a typical case of the "shoemaker's children?"

Phase 4 Pilot Project Implementation

The purpose of this phase is to determine how well the CM tool, processes, and procedures satisfy the organization's requirements. A pilot project allows testing of the tool's functionality on a real project with real data. In addition, the pilot allows for the prototyping of processes and procedures and provides feedback on how users respond to the tool.

It is important to select a pilot that will address all areas of CM but not affect the project's critical path . The automation team develops standards, policies, and procedures, as well as ensures users are trained to perform their CM duties . Successes and failures are documented and compared to the success criteria identified in the automation plan.

Phase 5 Rollout to Other Projects

This phase involves incremental migration of the tool into other projects. Training and dealing with resistance to change are key activities of this phase. The CM tool, process, procedures, and training needs are examined and adapted for each project. The automation team implements, evaluates , and monitors roll-out activities. This stage is complete when CM is routinely used on all projects.

Phase 6 Capture and Communicate Improvements

This phase involves evaluation of automation activities, capturing strategies that worked, and making recommendations for process improvements. The use of measurements and metrics can be very beneficial during this phase. More details on CM automation can be found in "Adopting an Automated Configuration Management Solution," by Susan Dart in Proceedings of the Software Technology Conference , April 1994.


A SELECTION OF CM TOOLS

A variety of Web sites are dedicated to listing CM tools, including:

  • Free or public domain tools: http://www.cmtoday.com/yp/free.html
  • Tools FAQ from the comp.software.config-mgmt newsgroup: http://www.daveeaton.com/scm/CMTools.html
  • Open directory project CM tools list: http://dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Configuration_Management/Tools
  • CM Today Yellow Pages: http://www.cmtoday.com/yp/commercial.html
  • Omniseek CM tools: http://www.omniseek.com/srch/{23049}

Table 14.1 contains a listing of CM tools compiled by the author's students.

Table 14.1: CM Tools Compiled by Students
  1. Teamcenter solution for Pro/ENGINEER

    Company: EDS, Electronic Data Systems Corporation

    Company address:

    • EDS Headquarters
      5400 Legacy Drive
      Plano, Texas 75024-3199

    Company phone: 1-800-566-9337

    Company Web site: http://www.eds.com/

    Company e-mail: < info @eds.com>

    Product description: The Teamcenter Engineering's Pro/ENGINEER solution authorizes the user to create, modify, browse, search, and access Pro/ENGINEER's parts , assemblies, and attributes.

  2. Teamcenter Aerospace and Defense

    Company: EDS, Electronic Data Systems Corporation

    Company address:

    • EDS Headquarters
      5400 Legacy Drive
      Plano, Texas 75024-3199

    Company phone : 1-800-566-9337

    Company Web site: http://www.eds.com/

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: It provides product management life-cycle capabilities, which are obtained from the best services, practices, and experience that deliver a fast solution to the customers, which are basically contractors and suppliers.

  3. Teamcenter Engineering Management solution for AutoCAD

    Company: EDS, Electronic Data Systems Corporation

    Company address:

    • EDS Headquarters
      5400 Legacy Drive
      Plano, Texas 75024-3199

    Company phone: 1-800-566-9337

    Company Web site: http://www.eds.com/

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: The Teamcenter Engineering's AutoCAD solution authorizes the user to create, modify, browse, search, and access AutoCAD parts, assemblies, and attributes.

  4. Teamcenter Engineering Management solution for CATIA

    Company: EDS, Electronic Data Systems Corporation

    Company address:

    • EDS Headquarters
      5400 Legacy Drive
      Plano, Texas 75024-3199

    Company phone: 1-800-566-9337

    Company Web site: http://www.eds.com/

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: The Teamcenter Engineering's CATIA solution authorizes the user to create, modify, browse, search, and access CATIA parts, assemblies, and attributes.

  5. Unigraphics NX-Data Exchange

    Company: EDS, Electronic Data Systems Corporation

    Company address:

    • EDS Headquarters
      5400 Legacy Drive
      Plano, Texas 75024-3199

    Company phone: 1-800-566-9337

    Company Web site: http://www.eds.com/

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: They enable Virtual Product Development across internal and extended customer and supplier programs. While maintaining simplicity, they ensure totality and quality.

    AU: "they ensure" or "it ensures"?

  6. Femap

    Company: EDS, Electronic Data Systems Corporation

    Company address:

    • EDS Headquarters
    • 5400 Legacy Drive
    • Plano, Texas 75024-3199

    Company phone: 1-800-566-9337

    Company Web site: http://www.eds.com/

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: It has the ability to import, create, and edit CAD geometry, provides support for physical material and structural properties, and has the ability to apply loads and boundary conditions.

  7. E-factory

    Company: EDS, Electronic Data Systems Corporation

    Company address:

    • EDS Headquarters
      5400 Legacy Drive
      Plano, Texas 75024-3199

    Company phone: 1-800-566-9337

    Company Web site: http://www.eds.com/

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: E-factory is an open system designed to manage data from a variety of manufacturing applications.

  8. AXALANT2000 SERVICE PACK 3

    Company: EIGNER

    Company address:

    • EIGNER Corporate Headquarters
      200 Fifth Avenue
      Waltham, Massachusetts 02451

    Company phone: 781-472-6300

    Company Web site: http://www.eigner.com/

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: It provides solutions for the entire management of a product, from initial to final post-manufacturing support.

  9. Requirements Management and MRO Capabilities

    Company: EIGNER

    Company address:

    • EIGNER Corporate Headquarters
      200 Fifth Avenue
      Waltham, Massachusetts 02451

    Company phone: 781-472-6300

    Company Web site: http://www.eigner.com/

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: These solutions enable the company to manage even the most complex product projects.

  10. Program Central

    Company: MatrixOne

    Company address:

    • MatrixOne, Inc.
      210 Littleton Road
      Westford, Massachusetts 01886

    Company phone: 978-589-4000

    Company Web site: www.matrixone.com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: MatrixOne Program Central is a unified environment for coordinating multiple, large-scale programs to provide globally distributed collaborative participants with real-time visibility into all project information and status, from both MatrixOne solutions and other systems.

  11. Engineering Central

    Company: MatrixOne

    Company address:

    • MatrixOne, Inc.
      210 Littleton Road
      Westford, Massachusetts 01886

    Company phone: 978-589-4000

    Company Web site: www.matrixone.com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: It provides a safe environment for its complex projects and ensures quality.

  12. MCad Integrations

    Company: MatrixOne

    Company address:

    • MatrixOne, Inc.
      210 Littleton Road
      Westford, Massachusetts 01886

    Company phone: 978-589-4000

    Company Web site: www.matrixone.com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: It brings product developments and integrations right to the developer's disposal.

  13. Collaborative Product Development solution

    Company: MatrixOne

    Company address:

    • MatrixOne, Inc.
      210 Littleton Road
      Westford, Massachusetts 01886

    Company phone: 978-589-4000

    Company Web site: www.matrixone.com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: It coordinates and manages the complex outsourcing of organizational information, responsibilities, schedules, deliverables, product information, and business processes.

  14. PVCS Version Manager

    Company: Merant

    Company address:

    • Corporate Headquarters
      3445 NW 211th Terrace
      Hillsboro, Oregon 97124

    Company phone: 503-645-1150

    Company Web site: www.merant.com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: It is used for source code control, software configuration management (CM), and protection of digital assets during any kind of change process.

  15. PVCS Tracker

    Company: Merant

    Company address:

    • Corporate Headquarters
      3445 NW 211th Terrace
      Hillsboro, Oregon 97124

    Company phone: 503-645-1150

    Company Web site: www.merant.com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: It helps establish priorities, assign ownerships, manage hand-offs, and track issues from emergence to resolution.

  16. PVCS Professional

    Company: Merant

    Company address:

    • Corporate Headquarters
      3445 NW 211th Terrace
      Hillsboro, Oregon 97124

    Company phone: 503-645-1150

    Company Web site: www.merant.com

    Company e-Mail:

    Product description: It is used for version control, bug tracking, change management, and build capability in a single integrated suite.

  17. KONFIG CM

    Company: Auto-trol Technology

    Company address:

    • Auto-trol Technology Corporation
      12500 North Washington Street
      Denver, Colorado 80241-2400

    Company phone: 303-452-4919

    Company Web site: www.auto-trol.com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: With this tool, one can access the company database through a GUI, and maintain the security and integrity of product information.

  18. Tech Illustrator

    Company: Auto-trol Technology

    Company address:

    • Auto-trol Technology Corporation
      12500 North Washington Street
      Denver, Colorado 80241-2400

    Company phone: 303-452-4919

    Company Web site: www.auto-trol.com

    Company e-mail :

    Product description: It captures the power of graphical knowledge for communication. It facilitates the creation of complex, composite artwork.

  19. KONFIG NM

    Company: Auto-trol Technology

    Company address:

    • Auto-trol Technology Corporation
      12500 North Washington Street
      Denver, Colorado 80241-2400

    Company phone: 303-452-4919

    Company Web site: www.auto-trol.com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: It provides a graphical application for data input, network design, and drawing output.

  20. Asset Management System

    Company: Auto-trol Technology

    Company address:

    • Auto-trol Technology Corporation
      12500 North Washington Street
      Denver, Colorado 80241-2400

    Company phone: 303-452-4919

    Company Web site: www.auto-trol.com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: It is an Oracle-form based application for managing asset information.

  21. Graphic Report Builder

    Company: Auto-trol Technology

    Company address:

    • Auto-trol Technology Corporation
      12500 North Washington Street
      Denver, Colorado 80241-2400

    Company phone: 303-452-4919

    Company Web site: www.auto-trol.com

    Company e-Mail:

    Product description: It creates drawings that are directly related to the data in the KONFIG database.

  22. Pathfinder

    Company: Auto-trol Technology

    Company address:

    • Auto-trol Technology Corporation
      12500 North Washington Street
      Denver, Colorado 80241-2400

    Company phone: 303-452-4919

    Company Web site: www.auto-trol.com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: It has full update capability.

  23. eB Doc Controller

    Company: Spescom Software

    Company address:

    • Spescom Software
      9339 Carroll Park Drive
      San Diego, California 92121

    Company phone: 858-625-3000, 800-992-6784

    Company Web site: http://www.spescomsoftware.com/

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: It enables users to categorize and question documents and related document data and performs document change management and allocation.

  24. eB Item Controller

    Company: Spescom Software

    Company address:

    • Spescom Software
      9339 Carroll Park Drive
      San Diego, California 92121

    Company phone: 858-625-3000, 800-992-6784

    Company Web site: http://www.spescomsoftware.com/

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: It has the competence of separately identifying objective and efficient items and allows the connecting of documents, objective and efficient items in multidimensional structures.

  25. eB Action Explorer

    Company: Spescom Software

    Company address:

    • Spescom Software
      9339 Carroll Park Drive
      San Diego, California 92121

    Company phone: 858-625-3000, 800-992-6784

    Company Web site: http://www.spescomsoftware.com/

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: eB Action Controller enables the contemporaneous administration and control of work involved in the design, release, and modifying/updating of data, documents, processes, and assets within an enterprise.

  26. eB Explorer

    Company: Spescom Software

    Company address:

    • Spescom Software
      9339 Carroll Park Drive
      San Diego, California 92121

    Company phone: 858-625-3000, 800-992-6784

    Company Web site: http://www.spescomsoftware.com/

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: It provides a convenient and speedy search/view/print tool, which is implanted into Microsoft Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer (version 5 or above). Utilizing this perceptive and recognizable environment, users can generate and save various document or objective item queries as well as view and interpret associated electronic file(s) for the preferred document record in the search result list.

  27. Windchill

    Company: PTC

    Company address:

    • PTC
      140 Kendrick Street
      Needham, Massachusetts 02494

    Company phone: 781-370-5000

    Company Web site: www.ptc.com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: It supports key product development processes, including configuration, release, and change management.

  28. Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire

    Company: PTC

    Company address:

    • PTC
      140 Kendrick Street
      Needham, Massachusetts 02494

    Company Phone: 781-370-5000

    Company Web site: www.ptc.com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: It provides an enhanced user interface in addition to a perceptive workflow.

  29. Agile Program Execution

    Company: Agile

    Company address:

    • Agile Software Corporation
      One Almaden Blvd.
      San Jose, California 95113-2253

    Company phone: 408-975-3900

    Company Web site: www.agile.com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: Agile Program Execution is the foremost program management solution, enabling companies to convey and advance products, generate additional revenue, and continue spirited advantage.

  30. Agile Configurator

    Company: Agile

    Company address:

    • Agile Software Corporation
      One Almaden Blvd.
      San Jose, California 95113-2253

    Company phone: 408-975-3900

    Company Web site: www.agile.com

    Company e-mail :

    Product description: Agile Configurator automates ISO 9000 compliance, saving time and money.

  31. TeamTrack

    Company: Teamshare, Inc.

    Company address:

    • TeamShare, Inc.
      1975 Research Parkway, Suite 200
      Colorado Springs, Colorado 80920

    Company phone: 1-888-TEAMSHARE (888-832-6742)

    Company Web site: www.teamshare.com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: TeamTrack helps you speedily mechanize your business processes, handle issues throughout the complete life cycle of your projects, and aid collaboration with all stakeholders across the venture and beyond ” apart from those of your industry. TeamTrack integrates to your other enterprise applications, allowing you to force your investment and boost work efficiency between teams .

  32. Bk/Pro

    Company: BitMover

    Company address:

    • BitMover, Inc.
      550 Valley St.
      San Francisco, California 94131

    Company phone: 415-401-8808

    Company Web site: www. bitkeeper .com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: BK/Pro is a scalable configuration management system, sustaining globally distributed expansion, detached operation, condensed repositories, adjust sets, and repositories as branches.

  33. Breeze

    Company: Chicago Interface Group

    Company address:

    • Chicago Interface Group, Inc.
      368 W. Huron, Ste. 2N
      Chicago, Illinois 60610

    Company phone: 312-337-3709

    Company Web site: www.cigi.net

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: Breeze allows remote approvers to vote on packages of changed source from any Web-ready workstation.

  34. Cloud 9

    Company: Chicago Interface Group

    Company Address:

    • Chicago Interface Group, Inc.
      368 W. Huron, Ste. 2N
      Chicago, Illinois 60610

    Company phone: 312-337-3709

    Company Web site: www.cigi.net

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: With Cloud 9, organizations can accomplish real enterprise change management, considering legacy systems as well as strewn elements. Cloud 9 allows organizations to leverage their savings in either CA-Endeavor or IBM's SCLM to work for enterprise change control.

  35. Source Integrity

    Company: Mortice Kern Systems (MKS)

    Company address:

    • Mortice Kern Systems
      185 Columbia Street West
      Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 5Z5

    Company phone: 519-884-2251

    Company Web site: www.mks.com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: Available for use on small to medium- sized projects operating over a LAN, where it offers good, all-around capability.

  36. TRUEchange

    Company: TRUE Software

    Company address:

    • TRUE Software
      300 Fifth Avenue
      Waltham, Massachusetts 02451

    Company phone: 781-890-4450

    Company Web site: www.truesoft.com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: TRUEchange is ideally suited for managing the ongoing flow of changes to production applications, particularly in large IT organizations moving mission-critical systems to the distributed world.

  37. TeamConnection

    Company: IBM Direct Sales

    Company address:

    • IBM
      7100 Highlands Parkway
      Smyrna, Georgia 30081

    Company phone: 800-426-2255 x 31825

    Company Web site: www.software.ibm.com/ad/teamcom

    Company e-mail: n/a

    Product description: A good CM tool with good all-around capability for most development team requirements, but not suited to remote development with closed repositories.

  38. Endevor for MVS

    Company: Computer Associates

    Company address:

    • Computer Associates
      One Computer Associates Plaza
      Islandia, New York 11788

    Company phone: 1-800-225-5224

    Company Wesite: www.cai.com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: This is a good CM product for those already using Endevor for MVS.

  39. Razor

    Company: Tower Concepts, Inc.

    Company address:

    • Tower Concepts, Inc.
      248 Main Street
      Oneida, New York 13421

    Company phone: 315-363-8000

    Company Web site: www.tower.com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: Razor is a tool best suited for projects using a single repository with well defined development and maintenance processes, or where problem tracking and change management are important requirements.

  40. CCC/Harvest

    Company: Chicago Interface Group

    Company address:

    • Chicago Interface Group, Inc.
      368 W. Huron, Ste. 2N
      Chicago, Illinois 60610

    Company phone: 312-337-3709

    Company Web site: www.cigi.net

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: With Cloud 9, organizations can accomplish real enterprise change management, considering legacy systems as well as strewn elements. Cloud 9 allows organizations to leverage their savings in either CA-Endeavor or IBM's SCLM to work for enterprise change control.

  41. ChangeMan

    Company: Serena Software

    Company address:

    • Serena Software
      500 Airport Blvd.
      Burlingame, California 94010

    Company phone: 650-696-1800

    Company Web site: www.serena.com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: A strong contender for many mainframe sites, particularly those with distributed mainframe operations, or those requiring a high degree of integrity for software changes to the production environment.

  42. ClearCase

    Company: Rational Software/IBM

    Company address:

    • Rational Software
      18880 Homestead Road
      Cupertino, California 95014

    Company phone: 408-863-9900

    Company Web site: www.rational.com

    Company e-mail:

    Product description: ClearCase is suited to medium-to-large-scale Windows or UNIX development projects, or for organizations migrating from UNIX to NT development environments.


SUMMARY

Configuration management, given the level of detail required, is not possible without the use of an automated tool. This chapter discusses an approach to automation as well as provides a list of CM tools.

Note  

The introduction to this chapter was adapted from the following report: Software Technology Support Center, United States Air Force, Ogden Air Logistics Center, Software Configuration Management Technologies and Applications, April 1999, www.stsc.hill.af.mil.


REFERENCES

[Brown et al. 1999] Brown, William, Hays McCormick, and Scott Thomas, AntiPatterns and Patterns in Software Configuration Management , John Wiley & Sons, New York, April 1999 .

[Dart 1994] Dart, Susan A., "Adopting an Automated Configuration Management Solution," Proceedings of Software Technology Conference , April 1994 .

[Softool 1992] Softool Corporation, Successful Software Strategies Seminar Series: Improving Your Configuration Management Implementation Strategy, Washington, D.C., 1992 .

[Ventimiglia 1997] Ventimiglia, Bob, Advanced Effective Software Configuration Management , Technology Training Corporation, 1997 .




Software Configuration Management
Software Configuration Management
ISBN: 0849319765
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 235
Authors: Jessica Keyes

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