Purpose

This section addresses the role of a CM plan in a CM solution by looking at the ten elements of a CM solution, of which one of the keys is the CM plan.

Section 2 of the document focuses on how CM plans are being used in industry today. The material presented in this section is based on a set of interviews conducted by the authors with software developers and configuration management personnel. The purpose of interviewing both developers and CM personnel was to gain a better understanding of how the CM plan was used by both. The goal, here, is to provide the reader with a better understanding of what is key to a CM plan, and of how the plan is actually being used in industry today. This section of the document summarizes the findings from the interviews; the actual findings themselves are located in Questions and Answers Appendix.

The third section focuses on the creation of CM plans. This section includes outlining a model CM plan and tips for writing a CM plan along with suggestions for automated tools.

Section 4 provides a summary of an evaluation and comparison of several existing, well-known standards used in developing a plan. Supporting material for this section is provided in the OUTLINE OF A MODEL CM PLAN Appendix and INDIVIDUAL EVALUATION CRITERION Appendix.

Section 5 gives a summary and conclusion.

Elements of the CM Solution

Figure: Elements of the CM Solution

The seven problem solving ones are:

1. Planning: this is deciding and resolving all the issues that must be documented in the CM plan such as CM procedures and policies.
2. Process: this concerns describing the actual CM process and what level of control will be enforced when the CM process is implemented, such as the actual steps involved in doing the CM.
3. People: this is related to all the various roles, responsibilities and tasks that various people play during the implementation of the CM process, such as the roles of developer along with the customer hotline that has to identify versions of releases that have the bugs.
4. Culture: this concerns understanding the kind of culture that exists within the organization and finding a CM solution that matches that culture, such as adopting a CM system with process support for a culture that mandates the following of a particular process.
5. Product: this involves determining what products and parts of products will be placed under CM control and what pieces actually make up the product, such as all the source and object code along with the tools.
6. Automation: this is deciding upon the requirements for the functionality of an automated CM system such as derived object management and system modelling.
7. Management: this is resolving managerial decisions associated with the CM solution such as buy or build a CM and when to start using the automated CM system.

1. The CM plan: this is the actual plan that will be implemented to address the CM needs. It gives all the procedures, policies, schedules, responsibilities, etc. as discussed in Appendix on the OUTLINE OF A MODEL CM PLAN.
2. The CM system: this is the tool(s) chosen to assist in automating parts of the CM process.
3. The CM adoption strategy: this is the strategy used to assist the organization in adopting the CM process and the CM system and institutionalizing such.

The role of the CM plan is an important part of the CM solution. This report describes how people use plans, how to write a plan, and examines three standards for writing CM plans.