Change and Configuration Control Beyond Project Close Out

Change is inevitable. Change Management covers all changes within the scope of a program/project. Configuration Control, a process/activity under configuration management, covers changes to the product/system and is applied after a product/system is approved and baselined.(See the book Software or Firmware Configuration Management on the complete process.)

Although both change and configuration control are activities to manage, implement, and control changes, they represent different perspectives. Change control typically account for changes that are for the entire program/project; the product, cost, schedule, quality, processes, or activities: The development process (e.g., system, software, application, database, or network), management, configuration management, quality assurance, etc. Configuration control which is usually a subset of change control, is an activity under configuration management that directly addresses changes to the product and its technical documentation (which has been put under configuration control (library control)) that describes its functional and physical characteristics. After baseline, configuration control is executed with the support of several major items: a control entity (composed of select stakeholders), a change and corrective action process and procedure, and a library/system for control and archive. The entity (board, review, or committee) is established to review/evaluate changes and implementation (the corrective action system) for the product/system. This configuration control process/activity after project close out is continued with the designated owner of the product (or the client/customer) and a select group of stakeholders available or called to meet, as required, to review changes/enhancements to the product/system.

As described in the book S/FCM and some of the newsletter articles for configuration management, “After a document or product is accepted, approved or baselined, and released, it is subject to Configuration Control”. And remember although management and test plans/documents are put under change control and subject to a change control process, they are not configuration control documents (see book) because they do not technically relate to the functional/performance and physical/design characteristics/properties for the product/system (the actual product)