Change and Configuration Management: Is Your SCM Up to the Job?

One question I hear a lot is “what’s so important about change and configuration management systems? Isn’t that just another layer of software that can clog up the software development process?” The fact is, a majority of software projects fail because of poor change and configuration management and improper use of SCM systems.

So what seems to be the problem? Well, efficient software development is often muddied by the increased use of outsourced development teams spread out over a variety of geographic locations, using a mix of Agile and waterfall modeling processes, and working on parallel projects. Choosing the wrong SCM system can reduce development efficiency, lock engineers into inappropriate processes, and cause defects to ship that can cost a boatload to fix and adversely affect overall product quality and, ultimately, customer satisfaction.

The right SCM tool, however,

• enables flexible processes for easier change and configuration management
• stands up to demanding frequent build, test, and release cycles
• helps improve quality while reducing the cost of the shipped product

In other words, the right SCM system, properly implemented and used, will make the entire software build, test, and release process faster, easier, and more successful. And isn’t that the whole idea?

Any good, comprehensive SCM system consists of four basic elements:

1. Version control, which tracks changes to a file over time
2. Build management, which enables developers to track a build’s progress and what goes into it
3. Release management, which handles the transition from initial build to shipped product
4. Process control, which ties it all together

The right mix of these four components will depend on the project size – more complex projects might require more build management, frequently-updated products might need more release management.

Size matters.
One of the most important aspects of efficient and effective SCM is right-sizing – making sure your SCM system is scalable to meet the size and scope of your development projects. Too often, organizations struggle with a one-size-fits-all SCM system that is simply inappropriate for the project at hand. Likewise, use scalable best practices; for example, don’t waste precious time and resources collective extensive project metrics for one-off projects – save the thorough data collecting for more complex builds, potential version updates, and product line extensions.

Managing change and configuration
All development processes, waterfall or Agile, need to handle branching, merging, and refactoring as efficiently as possible. Code often needs to be modified or revised for maintenance purposes or to facilitate emergency releases associated with defect repairs. Your SCM system needs to be able to handle branching, merging, and refactoring effectively to ensure that any fixes carry forward from maintenance releases to major future releases so that any errors or bugs don’t perpetually pop up as ongoing problems after their initial fix.

SCM Best Practices to improve your software development processes
To help you implement the ideal SCM system or improve your current one, here are eleven SCM Best Practices to aid process improvement and make your SCM as efficient and effective as possible:

• Forget one-size-fits-all SCM
• Design scalable Best Practices
• Plan your SCM environment carefully
• Ensure absolute reproducibility for all artifacts
• Require change requests and change packages
• Maintain private developer workspaces
• Create and work from appropriate baselines
• Leverage metrics for process improvement
• Create reusable components
• Merge and integrate as often as possible
• Structure for distributed development

The proper SCM system, implemented well and thoroughly embraced by your development teams, can make the difference between having a wildly successful product or an error-prone disaster that sucks up time, money, and resources in ever-increasing amounts.

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