* Electronic copy only (pdf)

NCC Members have free access to this Guideline on the Principia website.

Configuration management (CM) is an established discipline within software engineering project management. Yet the changing character of corporate information systems means that conventional software development is a diminishingly significant component of the IS function. Categories are breaking down, and while the skills involved may differ, the IS department now has a range of options to choose from in meeting its business objectives. These include outsourcing, the purchase and installation of turnkey systems, and the purchase and installation of software packages as well as conventional development.

The increasing reliance on networks and end-user PCs and workstations means that tasks which formerly required analysis, programming and coding are now achieved by off-the-shelf programs which simply need to be installed, configured and customised to work within a given environment. The practice of configuration management may be extended to cover this situation, by adopting the appropriate definition of a configuration item.

*This Guideline is only available as a pdf, which will be sent as an email attachment.