23.7 Configuration Management Plan: Tools, Techniques, and Methods

Depending on the capability level of the company, this chapter may be the easiest or the hardest part of the plan to write. If no help is available from a central place, such as an organization-wide quality system, the chapter will be hard to write, possibly long, and may take a long time. In this case, it should become an appendix, as it will probably also be the part of the plan that will change the most during the project. If general processes exist, simple references and a few descriptions may be sufficient. The information may even be included in chapter 3 of the configuration management plan. Don't underestimate the importance of this information and the work involved in providing it.

Tools

Tools may be dedicated configuration management tools, directory structures, databases, forms, and so on, deployed to facilitate and automate configuration management activities. The same tool or a number of tools may cover the configuration management activities, while different tools are often used for different types of configuration items. For example, many companies have a dedicated configuration management (read: version control) tool for source code, while other item types and information are handled on paper or e-mail, in ordinary databases, agreed directory structures, and the like. This section also describes which "homemade" tools are used: independently, in connection with other tools, or to connect other tools.

Techniques and Methods

Techniques and methods are descriptions of work and specific ways of doing things. These descriptions may be multidimensional separate descriptions for configuration item types and degrees of formality for each type. This section should also include templates for forms to be used and reports .