Certified Professional in Configuration Management Glossary of terms used in Configuration Management Issue 2007.07 Association of the International Certified Configuration Manager e.v.
Copyright 2007, the authors (René Schaap, Lars Bendix, Anne Mette Jonassen Hass, Karol Frühauf, Olaf Kosel), all rights reserved. The authors are transferring the copyright to the Association of the international Certified Configuration Manager (hereinafter called intccm). The authors, as current copyright holders, and intccm, as the future copyright holder, have agreed to the following conditions of use: 1) Any individual or training company may use this glossary if the authors and the intccm are acknowledged as the source and copyright owners of the syllabus and provided that any advertisement of such a training course may mention the glossary only after submission for official accreditation of the training materials to an intccm-recognized Board; 2) Any individual or group of individuals may use this glossary as the basis for articles, books, or other derivative writings if the authors and the intccm are acknowledged as the source and copyright owners of the glossary; 3) Any intccm-recognized Board may translate this glossary and license the glossary (or its translation) to other parties. Issue 2007.07 Page 1 of 12 July 20 th 2007
Revision and Change History Issue / Revision Date Reason for Change intccm Glossary 2006.xx 2006 Internal working issues intccm Glossary 2007.01 21/01/2007 Draft for internal review meeting intccm Glossary 2007.04 16/04/2007 Draft for final review (workgroup) intccm Glossary 2007.05 13/06/2007 Draft for final review (association) intccm Glossary 2007.07 20/07/2007 Approved and ready for distribution Change Record Reason for Change Changes as result of internal reviews Chapter / Paragraph / Page Throughout document Issue 2007.07 Page 2 of 12 July 20 th 2007
Table of Contents Revision and Change History... 2 Table of Contents... 3 Introduction to this glossary... 4 Purpose of this document... 4 Scope... 4 Arrangement... 4 Normative references... 5 Definitions... 6 Used Abbreviations... 6 A... 6 B... 6 C... 7 D... 8 E... 9 F... 9 I... 9 L... 9 M... 9 P... 9 R... 10 S... 10 T... 11 U... 11 V... 11 W... 11 Appendix A (Informative)... 12 Issue 2007.07 Page 3 of 12 July 20 th 2007
Introduction to this glossary Purpose of this document Much time and effort is wasted both within and between industry, commerce, government and professional and academic institutions when ambiguities arise as a result of the inability to differentiate adequately between such terms as change control and change management ; configuration management policy and configuration management plan and similar terms which form an interface between various sectors of society. Moreover, the professional or technical use of these terms is often at variance with different meanings attributed to them. Scope This document presents terms and definitions designed to aid communication in configuration management and related disciplines. Arrangement The glossary has been arranged in a single section of definitions ordered alphabetically. Some terms are preferred to other synonymous ones, in which case, the definition of the preferred term appears, with the synonymous ones referring to that. For example change control refers to configuration control. For synonyms, the See indicator is used. See also cross-references are also used. They assist the user to quickly navigate to the right index term. See also cross-references are constructed for relationships such as broader term to a narrower term, and overlapping meaning between two terms. Issue 2007.07 Page 4 of 12 July 20 th 2007
Normative references At the time of publication, the edition indicated was valid. All standards are subject to revision, and parties to agreements based upon this Standard are encouraged to investigate the possibility of applying the most recent edition of the standards listed below. Members of IEC and ISO maintain registers of currently valid International Standards. IEEE 610.12:1990 IEEE 828:2005 IEEE 829:1998 IEEE 1008:1993 IEEE 1044:1993 IEEE 1058:1998 ISO/IEC 10007:2003 EIA-649-A:2004 Standard Glossary of Software Engineering Terminology Standard for Software Configuration Management Plans Standard for Software Test Documentation Standard for Software Unit Testing Standard Classification for Software Anomalies Standard for Software Project Management Plans Quality management systems -- Guidelines for Configuration Management National Consensus Standard for Configuration Management Issue 2007.07 Page 5 of 12 July 20 th 2007
Definitions Not all terms in the glossary are mentioned directly as terms in the Foundation Level Qualification Scheme; they are added here for completeness because they are related to configuration management discipline. Used Abbreviations CCB CI COTS CM CMMI CSA FCA PCA Configuration Control Board Configuration Item Commercial of-the-shelf Configuration Management Capability Maturity Model Integration Configuration Status Accounting Functional Configuration Audit Physical Configuration Audit A approval: The agreement that an item is complete and suitable for its intended use. [EIA-649] artefact: See product. attributes: See meta-data. audit: An independent examination of a work product or set of work products to assess compliance with specifications, standards, contractual agreements, or other criteria. [IEEE 610.12] An audit of a configuration management system will not examine a work product or set of work products but a process or set of processes. B baseline: A specification or software product that has been formally reviewed or agreed upon, that thereafter serves as the basis for further development, and that can be changed only through a formal change control process. [IEEE 610.12] branch: A separate development line, to e. g. isolate bugfixing of an already delivered release from further development. build: An operational version of a software product incorporating a specified (sub)set of the capabilities that the final product will include. building: Assembling a system or part of a system - sometimes called a build - from components placed under configuration management. build management: Management of the build process in development and testing with an interface to configuration management. Issue 2007.07 Page 6 of 12 July 20 th 2007
C CCB: See configuration control board. change: A modification to an existing configuration item (CI) after agreement by the relevant configuration control board (CCB), which leads to a new version of the CI. change control: An activity of configuration management, consisting of the evaluation, co-ordination, approval or disapproval, and implementation of changes to configuration items after formal establishment of their configuration and stored in the configuration controlled area. change control board: See configuration control board. change management: Judicious use of means to effect a change, or proposed change, on a product or service [CMMI] change request: A formal request for a change to be implemented in a specific configuration item approved by the CCB and based on a registered event (problem, requirement change, etc.). check in: Storing a configuration item in the configuration controlled area. [AMJ] check out: Copy of a configuration item from the configuration controlled area. [AMJ] commercial off-the-shelf (COTS): Software defined by a market-driven need, commercially available, and whose fitness for use has been demonstrated by a broad spectrum of commercial users. [IEEE 1062-1998] component: One of the parts that make up a system. A component may be hardware or software and may be subdivided into other components. [IEEE 610.12] configuration: The arrangement of a system or component as defined by the number, nature, and interconnections of its constituent parts. [IEEE 610.12] configuration audit: The process of verifying that all required hardware/software configuration items have been produced, that the current version agrees with specified requirements, that the technical documentation completely and accurately describes the configuration items, and that all change requests have been resolved. [IEEE 610.12]. Standards recognize functional configuration audits (FCA) and physical configuration audits (PCA). configuration change control: An activity of configuration management, consisting of the evaluation, coordination, approval or disapproval, and implementation of changes to configuration items. configuration control board (CCB): Person or a group of persons assigned responsibility and authority to make decisions on the configuration. Relevant interested parties within and outside the organization should be represented on the CCB. [ISO 10007] configuration controlled area: An area where the components / CI s are identified and stored in order to be recreated or retrieved unmodified at any time. configuration identification: An activity of configuration management, consisting of selecting the configuration items for a system and recording their functional and physical characteristics in technical documentation. [IEEE 610.12] Issue 2007.07 Page 7 of 12 July 20 th 2007
configuration item (CI): An entity within a configuration that satisfies an end use function and is under configuration change control. An aggregation of hardware, software, or both that is designated for configuration management and treated as a single entity in the configuration management process. [IEEE 610.12]. This should be extended with all types of components to include documents, middleware, etc. configuration management (CM): A discipline applying technical and administrative direction and surveillance to: identify and document the functional and physical characteristics of a configuration item, control changes to those characteristics, record and report change processing and implementation status, and verify compliance with specified requirements. [IEEE 610.12] configuration management librarian: A person responsible for the establishment of configuration management for selected environments, for the maintenance of each configuration controlled area, its internal integrity, and integrity between areas. configuration management metrics: Definition of what to measure concerning the performance of configuration management, both directly in the form of raw data, and by calculations based on raw data. configuration management plan: A document setting forth the configuration items of a system and the plan for configuration management of each of them, including schedules, procedures, personnel, and equipment to be used. [IEEE 828] configuration management policy: An expression of the overall organisational position towards configuration. It provides guidance and direction for all CM work in the organisation. configuration management system: The collection of procedures, tools, and storage facilities for the performed configuration management. [CMMI] configuration manager: Person responsible for planning, monitoring and controlling the configuration management for at least one specific domain/configuration. configuration status accounting (CSA): See configuration status reporting. configuration status reporting: The process of reporting of information needed to manage a configuration effectively. This information includes a listing of the approved configuration identification, the status of proposed changes to the configuration, and the implementation status of approved changes. [IEEE 610.12] D deviation: A written authorization, granted prior to the manufacture of an item, to depart from a particular performance or design requirement for a specific number of units or a specific period of time. Note: Unlike an engineering change, a deviation does not require revision of the documentation defining the affected item. [IEEE 610.12] disapproval: Conclusion by the appropriate authority that an item submitted for approval is either incomplete or not suitable for its intended use. [EIA-649] distributed development: Different parts of the development group are located at different geographical sites. Also called multi-site development. Issue 2007.07 Page 8 of 12 July 20 th 2007
E event: An occurrence or happening, usually significant to the performance of a function, operation, or task. Registered events can lead to change requests. event lifecycle: The complete cycle from recognizing the event to the end of all actions related to the event. F functional configuration audit (FCA): A formal examination to verify that a configuration item has achieved the functional and performance characteristics specified in its product configuration information. [ISO 10007] I identification: See configuration identification. impact analysis: The assessment of the impact of a requested requirements change to the layers of documentation and components. incident: Any event occurring that requires investigation. [After IEEE 1008] incident management: The process of recognizing, investigating, taking action and disposing of incidents. It involves recording incidents, classifying them and identifying the impact. [After IEEE 1044] incident management tool: A tool that facilitates the recording and status tracking of incidents. They often have workflow-oriented facilities to track and control the allocation, correction and re-testing of incidents and provide reporting facilities. incident report: A document reporting on any event that occured, e.g. during the testing, which requires investigation. [After IEEE 829] L label: A type of meta-data to identify a special version of a configuration item. library: See configuration controlled area M manufacturing area: An area in which the components are created or modified, initiated by a formal change request (except for the first version) and approved by a change decision authority. merging: The consolidation of different development branches. meta-data: Information about configuration items (also called attributes). [AMJ] P phvsical attributes: Quantitative and qualitative expressions of material features, such as composition, dimensions, finishes, form, fit, and their respective tolerances. [After EIA 649] Issue 2007.07 Page 9 of 12 July 20 th 2007
physical configuration audit (PCA): a formal examination to verify that a configuration item has achieved the physical characteristics specified in its product configuration information. [ISO10007] priority: An attribute of an incident expressing the urgency of its resolution. Using a defined classification scheme (for example High, Medium, Low) one priority value shall be assigned in the incident report. procedure: A written description of a course of action to be taken to perform a given task. [IEEE 610.12] process: A set of interrelated activities that transform inputs into outputs. [ISO 12207] product: Anything that is used or produced to satisfy a need, for example, facilities, systems, hardware, software, firmware, data, processes, materials, or services. [EIA 649] A product is the result of activities or processes. [ISO 8402] product engineering: the technical processes to define, design, and construct or assemble a product. [IEEE 1002] product configuration information: All information/documents related to requirements for product design, realization,verification, operation and support. [ISO10007] product life cycle: A theory in which products follow a sequence of stages from its conception, through design and manufacture, to service and disposal. R release: The formal notification and distribution of an approved version of a hardware/software system. [IEEE 828] release management: The discipline to manage the release cycles of the product or part of the product; this refers to planning and actual releasing. requirement: A condition or capability that must be met or possessed by a product or product component to satisfy a contract, standard, specification or other formally imposed documents. [IEEE 610] revision: See version. S severity: An attribute of an incident expressing its impact on the function and user. Using a defined classification scheme (for example Critical, Serious, Non Critical) one value shall be assigned in the incident report. software: See IEEE 610.12 sub-system: A secondary or subordinate system within a larger system. [IEEE 610.12] support processes: Cover the activities, that support product development and maintenance, CM is one of the support processes [CMMI] system: A collection of components organized to accomplish a specific function or set of functions. [IEEE 610.12] Issue 2007.07 Page 10 of 12 July 20 th 2007
T tag: See label. traceability: The ability to identify related items in documentation and software, such as requirements with associated tests. U unique identification: Identification that distinguishes a version of a configuration item from any other version of any other configuration item in the context. usage: Any employment or application of a CI (work product, product component or product) without it being changed. For example requirement specification used for review, requirement specification used as basis for test specification, test specification used to perform test, end-user using the system. V version: A version is an initial release or re-release of a configuration item. [IEEE 610.12] version control: A process for keeping different versions in a CI class, without formal control of the changes between versions. A basic activity needed within configuration management. version identifier: Part of the unique identification used to distinguish a changed version of a CI from the previous version of the CI with the same primary identifier. [from EIA-649] W waiver: A written authorization to accept a configuration item or other designated item which, during production or after having been submitted for inspection, is found to depart from specified requirements, but is nevertheless considered suitable for use as is or after rework by an approved method. [IEEE 610.12] work product: Any document, documentation, or other tangible item that results from working on a project function, activity, or task. Examples of work products include the project plan, functional requirements, design documents, source code, test plans, meeting minutes, schedules, budgets, and problem reports. A subset of the work products will form the set of project deliverables. [IEEE 1058] workspace: A workspace represents a configuration controlled area copy and acts as an environment where one can work isolated for a task duration. Issue 2007.07 Page 11 of 12 July 20 th 2007
Appendix A (Informative) Index of sources; the following non-normative sources were used in constructing this glossary: [AMJ] Anne Mette Jonassen Hass (2003), Configuration Management Principles and Practice, Addison Wesley. [CMMI] Crissis, Konrad, Shrum (2005), CMMI - Guidelines for Process Integration and Product Improvement, Addison Weseley. Issue 2007.07 Page 12 of 12 July 20 th 2007