Project Management

Configuration management is the term given to the identification, tracking and managing of all the assets of a project. (You can also refer to configuration management in terms of an organization, but you need only be concerned with projects here.) Scope change management would be one component of an overall configuration management process. This is a non-core, optional process within the TenStep Project Management Process for the following reasons.

• Many (most) projects do not worry about tracking physical assets such as equipment, supplies and raw materials. If these assets need to be tracked, it is done at an organizational level. For instance, tracking and managing personal computers is usually done at a company or division level. The project manager of an individual project may need PCs for the team, but he or she doesn't have to track and manage the asset.

• If your project is worried about asset tracking, this is usually done outside of the realm of the project manager, and is instead handled by specialists on the team. For instance, if your project involves building an airplane, the tracking of materials is vital. However, there are team specialists that are assigned to manage this aspect of the project. If you are on a software development project, you need to track your software code. However there are software change management tools that will manage these assets. Again, it does not appear to be a core project management responsibility.

All that being said, some very large projects do need to manage physical assets, and if they do, the process can be managed using many of the techniques in this scope management section. Traditional scope change involving the changing of project requirements and overall scope would fall under an overall Configuration Management Plan.

The following components make up the Configuration Management Plan.

1. Planning. You need to plan ahead to create the processes, procedures, tools, files and databases to manage the project assets. You also may need to gain an agreement on exactly what assets are important, how you will define them, how they will be categorized, classified, numbered, reported, etc. The results of this up-front planning are documented in a Configuration Management Plan.

2. Tracking. You need processes and systems designed to identify when assets are assigned to your project, where they go, what becomes of them, who is responsible for them and how they are disposed. Since a project has a finite beginning and end, ultimately all the assets need to go somewhere. This could be in a final deliverable, into the operations/support area, scrapped, etc. You should be able to dissect each major deliverable of the project and show where all the pieces and parts came from, and where they reside after the project ends.

3. Managing. Managing assets means they are secure, protected and used for the right purposes. For example, it doesn't do any good to track purchased assets that your project does not need in the first place. Also, your tracking system may show expensive components sitting in an unsecured storage room, but is that really the proper place for them? Managing assets has to do with acquiring what you need and only what you need. You also need to make sure you have the right assets at the right place at the right time.

4. Reporting. You need to be able to report on the project assets, usually in terms of what you have and where they are, as well as financial reporting that can show cost, budget, depreciation, etc.

5. Auditing. Periodically, or at major milestones, you need to validate that your configuration management processes are correct and accurate. This usually involves a physical validation that the assets assigned to your project are correct and that you can find all the assigned assets. Many projects get in trouble when they start to lose track of material and supplies. Sometimes they are just misplaced. Other times they may be stolen. However, they were acquired because they were needed by the project. If they are not available, this may cause project cost overruns or delay.

If you practice configuration management on your project, it is suggested that you have a specific person identified as the Configuration Manager. This may be a part time role, depending on how much asset tracking and management your project does. This person is responsible for the overall process, with focus on the planning, management and auditing responsibilities. If your project is large enough, you can also designate a Configuration Librarian. This is an administrative position that focuses on the legwork and follow-up needed for the tracking and reporting responsibilities. Of course, if your project (or program) is big enough, such as building an aircraft, you are probably going to have a whole department doing this work, perhaps under the direction of the Purchasing / Procurement department.

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Weekly Anagram

Let's have some fun! See if you can unravel this anagram. (Anagrams are a word or phrase formed by reordering the letters of another word or phrase, such as satin to stain.)

The total expenditure for acquiring an asset. The sum of all moneys spent on a project and transferred to the capital account of an organization, usually upon completion

COAL ACT TIPS: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | _ _ _ _

Last Week's Anagram.

A bargaining process between two or more parties seeking to reach a mutually satisfying agreement

OAT IGNITE NO: NEGOTIATION

Wideman Glossary Term of the Week - Leveling

• See Resource Leveling.

• Resolving resource conflicts or over allocations by either delaying certain tasks and assignments or by splitting tasks.

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Labels: Configuration Management