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Application, Project, and Organization Level CM

Written by Mario Moreira

Sunday, 17 October 2004 16:00

To get to our destination, the road that we drive is important. In order to drive on the road, the road must be built for our needs. In order to keep the road safe, signs with meaningful messages must be added along the way. This should parallel our approach to Configuration Management (CM).

The road in this CM example is the CM infrastructure: a combination of the CM environment (CM technology and systems) and the CM procedures. This car vehicle is the project which uses CM ‘road’ to deliver a release to its destination. The signs on the road are the organizational policies and direction given to guide us in the right direction and on the right road.

Overview
CM does occur at several levels within a workplace. CM is often though of as occurring at the project level, focusing on what tasks must occur to deliver a release package. This usually involves build, package, and deployment tasks and includes change control and issue tracking tasks. These CM tasks fit nicely in an engineering project plan and most occur in the development and release phases of the project. However, many CM tasks and activities may not fit so neatly into a project level plan.

As an example, often times CM infrastructure tasks (e.g., application level CM tasks) are intermingled with project level tasks in an engineering project. The CM infrastructure tasks may interfere with the ability to get the release out on a timely manner. In this case, what is recommended is to have a separate CM effort whose goal is to establish the deliverables known as a CM infrastructure that is independent from the engineering project whose goal is to create a set of deliverables known as a project release. If the CM infrastructure tasks get completed in time for the engineering project to use them (a procedure, training, code repository), then they can be used. However, an engineering project should not have to wait for the CM infrastructure tasks (at the application level) to get completed in order to get the release out. It is advisable for the application owner to provide
the CM professional(s) with lead time to build an appropriate CM infrastructure for the application lifecycle so that when project releases are ready to be developed, a functional set of CM procedures and technology are available to control that work.

Three CM Levels
In the book, Software Configuration Management Implementation Roadmap, the author, Mario Moreira, defines a structure for the level where the CM tasks can be aligned. These levels include the Application Level, Project Level, and the Organization Level. At the Application level, the CM tasks build or improve a CM infrastructure. CM tasks at this level do not directly involve getting a project release out to market (e.g., to its destination), but involves CM tasks focused on building the infrastructure and processes that can support an engineering project lifecycle. At the Project level, the CM tasks help a project create and deliver a release to the marketplace. At the Organization level, the CM tasks define CM consistency across an workplace such as standard policy, budget, personnel structure, and terminology.

Defining the CM Levels
Many people within a workplace use the terminology of the CM levels interchangeably. For example, people constantly use the term “project” and “application” (or “product”) synonymously when, in fact, they are very different. Below are brief definitions of the levels, but it is important to define these terms for your workplace.

An Organization may be:
- An entire workplace if small with only 1 division head or area of focus.
- A division or sub-division of a workplace if large enough and/or the establishment has multiple division heads with different market or product sector focuses or operates relatively independently from other parts of the workplace.
An Application can be:
- An accumulation of deliverables that make up a functioning system in a full state of operational readiness (otherwise known as “in production”). This can be running on a server, on a client, or packaged on media.
- An application lifecycle is the lifespan of the application from the first release in production, through the last release, and until users are no longer using the application.
- An application may be called a Product if it includes that application. However, some Products are a collection of Applications.
A Project can be:
- A set of tasks/activities whose aim is to deliver a changed (new/modified/deleted) set of functionality (otherwise known as a release).
- A project lifecycle starts in the planning and requirements stage and ends when all project tasks are completed and the deliverables are released into production.

Benefits of the CM Levels
The CM levels provide a structure that will allow you to best align the CM tasks to where you get the most benefit. To determine where you will get the most benefit, identify the target audience of the CM task.
Before beginning a CM implementation effort, it is important to determine the level since it will improve your chances of successful implementation and deployment. To identify the level, consider the following:

Identify if the CM task and its deliverable is expected to live the duration of an organization, an application, or project.
With the results of the bullet item above, who in the organization level, application level, or project level is the primary beneficiary of the task or deliverable and who may help the SCM professional best ensure adoption of the deliverable or completion of the task?

For example, the CM implementation involves establishing a CM Policy. First, identify if the CM Policy is to live throughout the life of the organization, an application, or a project. Then identify who the CM professional needs to work with to get this accomplished. If the CM Policy is only for an application (application lifecycle), then the CM professional should work with the owner of application (a.k.a., Product Manager) and the CM implementation should be conducted at the application level. However, if the CM policy needs to live the duration of an organization, then the CM professional needs to work with senior management to ensure adoption of the CM Policy within the entire organization.

Below is a summary of possible targets in the organization, application, and project ‘levels’ based on the life or usage of the deliverable and primary beneficiary.

If the Life/Usage of the Deliverable is the:	The Target Level is the:	Then the Primary Beneficiary (who SCM Professionals need to work with) is:
Duration of the Organization	Organization	Senior Management (efforts that can change the organizational culture)
Duration of the Application	Application	Application Owner (a.k.a., Product Manager)
Duration of the Project or used in relation to a specific project release	Project	Project Managers (and their staff)

The identification of the target-level will help maximize the time spent on the task and increase the chances of success. This should be one area of focus when approaching a CM implementation.

Examples of Tasks as the Organization, Application, and Project Level
What are some examples of CM tasks at the appropriate level? The following provides examples of tasks grouped by the three CM levels. Keep in mind that some tasks could fit into more than one level. Also, each set of tasks is not meant to be an exhaustive list.

CM Level: Organization

Determining CM awareness
Assessing CM risk (at the organization level)
Evaluating support and sponsorship for CM
Defining an SCM budget
Establishing a CM personal structure
Defining an organizational level CM Plan
Defining common CM terminology

CM Level: Application

Assessing an application’s CM needs
Selecting a CM technology best suited for the application
Defining an application level CM Plan (if none exists at the organization level)
Establishing a CM environment for an application
Establishing CM processes for an application (checkout/checking, build, release, change control, problem management, etc.)
Performing CM training for those that work on the application

CM Level: Project

Getting CM tasks into the project plan
Baselining the code for the new development
Establishing the appropriate branching structures
Compiling the code
Creating a release package with deliverables
Attending Change Control Board (CCB) meetings

Summary
In our lives, we are typically very busy. It is important to maximize the output of any task we perform. By identifying the right audience and therefore the right level, may help us to derive the most benefit from a task. This is particularly important in the lives of CM professionals who are inundated with work requests. The more we understand the level we need to work in and people we need to work with, the greater the chance we will have in completing the task successfully.

References

Chapter 1, “4. Examining the Target Levels”, p3-5 of the “Software Configuration Management Implementation Roadmap” by Mario E. Moreira, 2004, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd Publishing.

“Approaching the Implementation of CM”, by Mario Moreira, CM Crossroads, February 2004, http://www.cmcrossroads.com/articles/mmfeb04.pdf

Chapter 1, “4. Examining the Target Levels”, p3-5 of the “” by Mario E. Moreira, 2004, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd Publishing.

Mario Moreira is a Columnist for CM Crossroads Journal, a Director/Architect of Technology, an Author of CM publications, and has worked in the SCM field since 1986. He has experience with numerous SCM technologies and processes and has implemented SCM on over 100 applications/products, which include establishing global SCM infrastructures. He has an MA in Mass Communication with an emphasis on communication technologies. Mario also brings years of Project Management, Software Quality Assurance, Requirement Management, facilitation, and team building skills and experience.

Mario has released a new SCM book entitled, “Software Configuration Management Implementation Roadmap”. You can find it at amazon.com www.amazon.com This book includes step-by-step guidance for implementing SCM at the organization, application, and project level and includes helpful templates on CD to get started.

You may reach Mr. Moreira by email at Mario.Moreira@cmcrossroads.com

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