Foreword by Kim Caputo

Solving the problems in configuration management can dramatically reduce the cost of rework , not to mention reduce the number of programmer headaches . I was fortunate to work in a company that did very well with configuration management practices on their proprietary systems. However, when they began software development on open systems, it was not so easy. Things that were second nature, that were so internalized that we didn't have to think about them anymore, suddenly became the things we didn't have the foresight to think about on the new systems. We began to have problems again. We had to relearn things that we thought we had learned before, and it was difficult to go back and learn them all over again. The explanations of the concepts, definitions, roles, and responsibilities in this book would have helped us then.

This book will also help those who have never had the appropriate level of discipline in their workplace for configuration management, especially those who have experienced horror stories like these:

• The Lost Software: "I know I wrote it, but I don't know where I put it."

• The Missing Links: "This used to work, but now it points to code that isn't there anymore."

• Stepping on each other's code: Developers doing different fixes in the same code area, overwriting each other.

• You Can't Go Back Again: New fixes are worse , and there's no "undo" button.

• You Can't Put It Together Again: Dropped a document with no page numbers , or dropped two documents, no titles on pages, which was which?

• Who's on First? What's on Second? Bug reported by customer, but don't know what version they have, don't know what fix to give them.

• "But I Know I Fixed It!"

  - Customer calls and says, "It's broken."

  - Programmer makes the fix, but forgets to check-in the change.

  - Software build is done without the fix (No one audited the baseline).

  - Exact same software shipped to the customer.

  - Customer calls and says, "It's still broken."

  - Programmer says, "But I know I fixed it!"

Configuration management is a cornerstone of software process improvement. (After all, if you can't manage your stuff, how can you tell whether your stuff has improved?) In CMM Implementation Guide , I wrote: "In the software industry, many of us have taken steps in software process improvement and made the steps our own, but perhaps many of us have not yet taken the more difficult steps of allowing ourselves to learn from each other and change under cross-cultural influence. It won't happen unless we share our experiences and our techniques. I am sharing my experiences and techniques, not to tell people to do it my way but rather to open the door for us to learn from each other throughout the industry and throughout the world. Perhaps I am not the first to open this door, and I hope that I am not the last. This is an invitation to the dance ."

Across the world, nine time zones away, Anne Mette Jonassen Hass has answered the invitation and come through with a wonderful contribution. Here she shares her experiences and techniques for successful configuration management, with several possibilities for solutions that readers can take and make the steps their own. She also includes a wealth of references to reach more information for further learning. I am delighted with this contribution that takes up the call to influence our industry and our world.

Kim  Caputo
Mission  Viejo,  California