Software Change, Configuration and Release Management Training

Software Configuration Management Course Outline

• Configuration and Release Management

  Analyzing business factors driving CM

  • Determining causes of failure in project scenarios
  • Positioning strong internal CM controls
  • Controlling quality in the development life cycle
  • Releasing stable configurations

  Demystifying core CM processes

  • Configuration Identification
  • Version Management
  • Configuration Control
  • Change Management
  • Configuration Status Accounting
  • Reporting
  • Configuration Audits
  • Compliance
  • Build and Release Management

• Identifying Configuration Items (CIs)

  Deriving candidate items for the project

  • Extracting CIs from the product and the project
  • Itemizing six steps to bring a work product under configuration management control

  Categorizing and naming items

  • Devising an effective naming scheme
  • Classifying items based on the nature of the project
  • Aligning a CI into one of four categories

  Baselining CIs

  • Defining baselining procedures and creating a checklist
  • Declaring configuration or phase baselines
  • Checking CIs into a repository

• Controlling Change

  Determining roles and responsibilities

  • Establishing an infrastructure to manage project change
  • Comparing change control from a traditional to an Agile perspective
  • Specifying the role of the SCM team

  Creating a change control process

  • Establishing change control procedures
  • Facilitating change from requirements through maintenance

  Distinguishing between defects and enhancements

  • Processing a change request
  • Investigating defects and deciding corrective action
  • Evaluating urgency
  • Determining severity
  • Prioritize

• Communicating Configuration Status

  Planning the reporting requirements

  • Identifying reports required in each phase of CM
  • Determining the communication needs of stakeholders
  • Improving processing by using a configuration database

  Matching reporting needs to development life cycle

  • Anticipating report types by role types
  • Planning what to collect in order to report
  • Adding CSA requirements to vendor contracts

• Auditing in Preparation for a Release

  Designing Configuration Audits

  • Distinguishing between QA and SCM activities
  • Clarifying types of SCM audits
  • Timing audits throughout the development life cycle
  • FCA and PCA checklists
  • Baseline and release audits

  Assessing release readiness

  • Ensuring the documentation matches the product
  • Verifying product configuration

• Building and Releasing the Product

  Ensuring consistency through the build process

  • Establishing independence by separating development from the build
  • Managing unique code lines and versions
  • Knowing why and when to branch and use variants

  Specifying the product release process

  • Planning a release strategy
  • Resources needed for a smooth release process
  • Matching process steps to release types
  • Positioning Quality Gates in the development life cycle
  • Timing the release appropriately