CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT
Systems Engineering Glossary
Systems Engineering — Systems Engineering — Configuration Management
Information on Configuration Management
Configuration management refers to the act of controlling
and managing the physical and functional make-up of the configuration
items that comprise the system. Configuration management is
therefore a critical part of systems engineering management.
The principal intentions
of configuration management are to identify the functional
and physical characteristics of configuration items during the Acquisition Phase,
control changes to the characteristics of those configuration items, and
record and report the status of the configuration items. Configuration
management also maintains an effective history of the
changes to configuration items, including the alternatives considered and the
reasons for selecting the preferred alternative.
There are four principal configuration
management functions:
1) Identification (of the items to be
placed under control);
2) Control (of these items through effective change
management processes);
3) Status accounting (accurate and up to date configuration
information on each configuration item); and
4) Audits (confirmation of correct
operation of the configuration management process).
Configuration management standards include MIL STD 973 and ANSI/EIA 649.
Other topics in our resources on Systems Engineering related to Configuration Management include:
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