The process of controlling and documenting change for the development system is called Configuration Management. Configuration Management is part of the overall change management approach. It allows large teams to work together in s stable environment while still providing the flexibility required for creative work.
Here, we will discuss Configuration Management and Change Control and will cover objectives for both of them. Also, will focus on the process of change control, and later in this section, will discuss how we can revise the plan and what guidelines need to follow to make changes in the plan. Let’s discuss one by one.
Objectives of Configuration Management :
Configuration management has three major purposes as follows.
- To identify the configuration of the product at various points in time.
- Systematically control changes to the configuration.
- Maintain the integrity and tractability of the configuration throughout the product life cycle.
When developing and maintaining a project, changes are inevitable. When the project starts, there are multiple changes to parameters of one or more project. The objective of the change control is to identify, evaluate, priority and control changes to the project. The change is made to the project if there is any request by a project member or a stakeholder.
Different roles for Change Control :
The role of different persons and processes for change control will be as follows.
| Role | Tasks |
|---|
| Interested Party | Documents the change requested, along with priority of the change, approaches to handle the change, work around if the change is not implemented. |
| Project Manager | Acknowledge the change applies to this project. |
| Change Control Board | Enter the change request into tracking system log. |
| Project Team Member | Review the change request and determine whether or not it is worth evaluating for action. |
At the end, change has to be informed to requestor.
Process of change control :
It is as shown in the following diagram as follows.
Revise the Plan :
If there are significant changes in the project deliverables, schedule, budget or approach, the project plan s to identify. This is also done at the end of each major life cycle phase. The purpose is to revise the project plan is to accommodate significant changes, so that the documented plan reflects the plan in use by the project Team. This is the task of the senior manager to reviews the change to project plan and approve those changes.
The following guidelines should be followed while making changes as follows.
- No one is allowed to change anything in the project without knowing others.
- Every change must ensure quality.
- There should be a formal change control system on the basis of which the project s changed.
- The project should be flexible so that changes can be made easily.
- Records will be properly maintained after change and also revised plan should also be ready.
A project that will need to manage changes to the project scope or the product description and design should have a configuration management plan at the outlet.