B C C M S G

Change,Configuration and Release Management

The only Constant is Change

Ed McMahonChair, CMSGOctober 2001

B C C M S G

CMSG: Aims and Objectives

• To be the voice of CM in the UK• To promote the disciplines of Change,

Configuration and Release Management• To actively pursue the establishment of

standards • To introduce ISEB approved education and

examinations…..

• WHY?

B C C M S G BSI PD0005

Service Management framework

Service Level Management

Availability& ServiceContinuity

Service Reporting

SecurityManagement

CapacityManagement

FinancialManagement

Business RelationshipManagement

SupplierManagement

Release Management

Incident Management

Problem Management

Automation

Resolution Processes

ReleaseProcesses

Service Design & Management Processes

RelationshipProcesses

Control ProcessesConfiguration Management

Change Management

B C C M S G Projects & PRINCE

Organisation

Plans

Controls

StagesManagement of Risk

Quality in aproject environment

Configuration Management

Change Control

Source: OGC’s PRINCE ®methodologyPRINCE is a registered trademark of OGC

B C C M S G

Why?

• Related processes with a direct impact on Quality• Essential disciplines that must be planned for and• Implemented early in the Lifecycle• Provides key information and input to

– Project Management– Testing– Quality Management– Audit and Verification.

B C C M S G

Accomplishing these Objectives?

• Day events and seminars• Running introductory sessions on the

disciplines• Presentations at other SIGS• Introduction of an education syllabus• Linking with ITIL and the ISM Levels.

B C C M S G

Problems and Issues

• Time. Committee work is voluntary• Money. Group is self financing.• Position. Not seen by industry OR• Seen but not recognised as effective.

B C C M S G

What is required? - Discussion point.

• Higher Profile• Semi-dedicated resource from BCS to

support volunteers• Financial support from BCS • A higher profile from BCS itself.• BCS promotion of the SIGS

B C C M S G

What can we do ourselves?

• Make the group more attractive.• Appeal to a wider audience.• Appeal to a Management audience.• Present solutions as well as awareness• Promote ISEB qualifications in recognised

disciplines - Train practitioners• Promote appropriate ISM Level within

organisations.

B C C M S G

Easier to Sell?

• From Configuration Management to• Change, Release and Configuration

Management.• Long and heated arguments: against and for• Esoteric arguments - not commercial.

Name Change

B C C M S G

Education• Proposed Courses and syllabus for two levels

– Essential: Target BCS ISM Level 3 for Change, Configuration & Release Management

• 2 days, 14 hours, 1 hour exam– ISEB Business Systems Development: Certificate in

Change, Configuration & Release Management Essentials– Intermediate/Practitioners: Target BCS ISM Level 4-5 for

Asset & Configuration Management

• 3-4 days, 20 hours, 2 Assignments, 1 hour exam– ISEB Certificate in Change, Configuration & Release

Management Intermediate/Practitioners

B C C M S G

BS 15000

Standard

PD0005

ITIL

In-house proceduresSolutions

Process Definition

Manager’s Overview

Achieve this

Capability & Capability & MaturityMaturity

ConformanceConformance

Assessments :Assessments :

ITIL Best Practice & Standards Links

Management Awareness

B C C M S G

Structure, Relationships and Content

Change, Configuration and Release Management

B C C M S G

ITIL Version 2 Service Support

Change Mgt.- assesses &

authorises change

Configuration Mgt.-identifies impact &

updates records

Release Mgt.-controls release of

software & hardware to implement the change

Incident Mgt.-logs & resolves incidents

Problem Mgt.-identifies root cause & minimises effect

The Service Desk

B C C M S G

Change Management - Activities

ChangeManagement

Review all implemented

changes

Oversee changebuilding, testing

andimplementation

Approve & schedule changes

ManageRequests For Change

B C C M S G

Software CIto be changed

RelatedOperating CI

InitialChange Request

RelatedHardware CI

RelatedTraining CI

Configuration Management

CMDB

CombinedChange Request

RFCs & Configuration Management

Assess Impact & Proposal

Implement

Approve

Manage, monitor,

report,chase,RFCs

Post Impl.Review Audit CIs

Update CIs

Release CIs

Assess Impact

Raise RFCCMDB

Identify CIs

CMDB

Close RFC

Change Procedure

B C C M S G

Configuration Management Objectives

• Enabling control by monitoring and maintaining information on:– Resources and configurations needed to deliver projects,

systems and services– Configuration Item (CI) status and history– CI relationships

• Providing information on the infrastructure for all other processes & Programme/IT/IS Management

B C C M S G

ConfigurationManagement

StatusAccounting

Verification & Audit

Identification &Naming

Control

Managementinformation

Configuration Management - activities

Need to be planned!

B C C M S G

Configuration Control

Configuration Control is responsible for the way in which we put our projects and systems together. It allows us to assign and associate a series of selected elements to form a Release Unit or Release Package (i.e. Set)

Pre-grouped elements formed into identifiable packages are what we move through the life cycle.

B C C M S G

Configuration Control Procedures

– Check-out/Check-in– Impact Analysis– Versioning– Move/Copy/Build– Baselining - packages, systems & environments– Environment Restore– System/Package/Change Backout/restore– Security

Depend on Configuration Item Type:

B C C M S G

Build

• Inputs must be from controlled library or repository• Identify environment, inputs, outputs and build tools• Identify dependencies to permit rebuilding later on &

order!

Build Tools &Clean Environment

BuiltEnvironment

OUTIN

B C C M S G

Configuration ManagementCategories include

– Programmes/Projects– Services – Systems– Hardware– Software– Documentation– Environment– People– Data

Items you want to control are called Configuration Items (CIs) Data about all the CIs are held in the Configuration Management System or Database (CMDB)

B C C M S G

Configuration Item (CI)A Configuration Item• Is needed to deliver a

system/product/service• Is uniquely identifiable• Is subject to change• Can be managed

A Configuration Item• Belongs to a CI category • Has relationships • Has descriptive attributes• Changes status over time

B C C M S G

Configuration Item (CI) Attributes

Ownattributes

Location

Description

Supplier

Owner

Version

Name

Status

Size/Capacity

CategoryCI

number

Euro

SupportGroup

Security

B C C M S G

PC

CIs - scope and detail

DETAIL

SCOPE

Software Documen- tation

SLAW.P.DBMS E-mail

Bundleds/w

Networkprinter

VDU Keyboard

Localprinter

CPU

Hardware Peopleresources

Environ-ment

No breakpower

Service

B C C M S G

Web World - What to Control?

ASP

Flash

VRML

XML

Cascading Style Sheets

CGI

Java JavaScript Perl

Design

Layout

Navigation

Images

Multimedia

Graphics

Tools

Formats

Icons

Software

Browsers

Servers

Editors

Plugins Open Source

Domains

Security

UNIX

Databases

Protocols

Tutorials

HTML Tag List

URL

Virtual Library

HTML4

DHTML

SMIL

B C C M S G

Role of Status Accounting

I’m doing a release,take the baselinesfor me please.OK, I’ll Get

the pictures

What have weConfigured?

RecordedBaselines

B C C M S G

App. Server‘As Built’

NT Server‘As Built’

Desktop ‘As Built’

Appl. Server‘Live’

NT Server‘Live’

Desktop ‘Live’

‘As Built’ Baseline Records Live Infrastructure

Audit Tools & Scripts

Perform audit• Log exceptions• Notify exceptions• Investigate exceptions• Follow up & resolve

Configuration Audit

B C C M S G RFC - Scope and Contents

CIs

Hardware

SLA

Software

etc..

Environment

Documentation

ChangeSponsor & Originator

Justification

ChangeAdvisory Board(if appropriate)

Serviceimpact

What, Why, When

etc.. CategoryPriority

ResourceEstimates

Change Request(RFC)

B C C M S G

Change Management Process

RFC

RefusalPreparation

Build

Test

Implementation

CategorisePrioritiseAuthorise

Plan

ApproveRelease

Review

ManageImplement

Refusal

CAB

Backout

B C C M S G

ITIL Version 2 Release Management

Release Policy

Release Planning

Design,develop, build, configure release

Fit for Purpose Testing &Release Acceptance

Roll-outPlanning

Comms.,Preparation & Training

Distribution & Installation

Configuration Management Database and Definitive Software Library

Development Environment

Controlled Test Environment

Live Environment

B C C M S G

Release Management Objectives

• Deliver systems that are correctly configured and built first time e.g. 99% of target

• Repeatable, consistent process that is cost effective, responsive and flexible

• Everyone knows what is happening & when• Accurate updates are fed back to configuration

management• Can do OFTEN & QUICKLY!• Maintain quality

B C C M S G Platform & Cultural Challenges

Release management

Mainframes

Client/server

B2BSystems

Personalcomputers

Internet

Laptops

NetworkComputer

Mobiles

Compact Disks

Balancing control of corporate, regulated systems with end user flexibility across platforms

B C C M S G

Release Policy

Releasepolicy

4. Releaseunit - full/delta

5. Releasenumbering

6. Releasefrequency

7. Emergencychange

1. Roles & Responsibilities

2. Levels of Authority

3. Identification & Packaging

8. Business critical times & risks

B C C M S G

Release Management Best Practices

• Designer/developer should design for change, configuration & release management

• Release management should offer advice & info. – Standards, identification, tools, techniques– Release, build and back-out procedures– Re-use of standard procedures & CIs from CM system– Automate installation routines if sensible– Automated one-off jobs need equivalent back-out routines – Design software distribution so that the integrity of software is

OK during handling, packaging, delivery & AUTOMATE!

B C C M S G

Release & Roll-Out

Build New Release

Distribute release

Definitive Software Library

CM SystemRelease

Record

Test New Release

CI records

B C C M S G

Release Planning - Why?• What is to be released and to

where?• Who is responsible for what?• How it will be done?• How do we know it has worked?

B C C M S G

Release Planning

• Release contents & schedule• Roll-out planning

– Phasing over time and by geographical location, business unit and customers

– Site surveys/audits – Obtaining quotes for new hardware, software or

installation services• Quality plan • Back-out plans• Acceptance criteria

B C C M S G

What Does It Mean?

Part 3 - Making it Work.

B C C M S G

The Brave New World

• No central computer, no single network• A changing environment where anyone can

publish information or read it• Information is on any server• And we need to be able to trust our business

partners, suppliers, and customers engaging in e-commerce!

B C C M S G

WWW By 2003• More than 500 million users• Dominant growth in Europe where 60% of Web users

will live & work• No. of devices will be more than 700 million• B2B will be 90% of all internet traffic & B2B e-

commerce may be $7 trillion • Related IT services opportunity is estimated at just

under $1 trillion

B2B value chain

B C C M S G

World-wide prototype to B2B

• Support more data, applications , processes across enterprises

• Separate information and services (logical) from infrastructure (physical)

• Use remote services (internal & external)• Re-engineered IT infrastructure for maximum cost-

effectiveness and reliability

DEV TEST LIVE

B C C M S G

• Short Lead Time to Market– Fast & clear decision making and risk analysis

• Ever More Complex Technical Systems– Need to manage variants and dependencies

– Needs clear ownership through the lifecycle • High demand for Deliverables from Organisation and

Staff– Need to know ‘true’ status

Business Programme Challenges

B C C M S G

Start with Change Management• Keep It Sufficiently Simple

– Appoint Change Manager– Document Scope– Establish Communications

• Base it upon– Business Continuity– Necessity but Risk of Change

• Ignore Content for now• Appoint a Change Manager

B C C M S G

Appoint Change Manager• Use BCS Industry Structure Model

– Senior appointment– Business AND IT knowledge– Expert Communicator– Programme and Project knowledge– Service Management knowledge– Risk Management experience– People person– Process Person - Process is everything

B C C M S G Change Manager

QualityParameters &

Key PerformanceIndicators

- Defines scope and process- Operates process - Manages data and records- Interface & communicator- Sets targets & measures- Reduce Incidents - Manage risk of change- Process reviews - Efficiency & effectiveness reviews- Manages improvement cycle- Evolve sub-processes- Measure change & effect

- Establish interfaces/ links with all areas, projects, programmes, service & support- Identify Interface Impacts for Business Impact

Process Manager Manage Change and Risk

Change ManagerChange Administrator

ChangeManager & Team

(& all staff)

B C C M S G

Possible Problems

• Systems overload easily• Circumvention of procedures • Excessive over-ruling for strategic expedience• Suppliers• Over-zealousness can lead to analysis-paralysis• Unclear responsibilities and definitions

B C C M S G

Possible Problems• Establishing depth and breadth• Interfaces to other systems where CI information is

stored• Data collection and maintenance of accuracy• Roles and responsibilities in distributed, client/server

environments• Establishing owners for CIs• Over-ambitious schedules and scope• Management commitment to importance of

Configuration Management as a foundation block

B C C M S G

Potential Benefits • Increased productivity of customers and IT staff• Less adverse impact of changes on services• Ability to absorb a higher level of error-free change helps speed to

market & quality of service• Better up-front assessment of the cost and business impact of

proposed changes• Reduction in the number of disruptive changes• Reduction in the number of failed changes• Valuable management information

B C C M S G

Potential Benefits• Improves asset management• Reduces risks from changes• Leads to more effective user support• Improves security against malicious changes• Facilitates compliance with legal obligations• Supports budget process• Facilitates service level management, better planning & design• Improves capability to identify, improve, inspect, deliver,

operate, repair & upgrade• Provides accurate information & configuration history• Increased Quality• Facilitates Learning and Knowledge based organisations

B C C M S G

How - Define the Method & Process

Change & Release Management throughout the life cycle

Requirements

Systemdesign

Component design and build

Unit Test

Large System Testing

BusinessAcceptanceTesting

Validation

Rework

TestConditions

& Cases

TestExecution

Verification Activities- Release Package & Signoff- Configuration Audit- Change Management Audit- Test and Quality Audit

Lifecycle Checkpoint

The V-Model Method & Process

B C C M S G

Analyse Current

• What Processes are currently specified and used?• What Tools are in place?• How many production and development problems are

caused by change and release issues?• What are the costs associated with the above?• How much time is spent waiting/wasted?

B C C M S G

Analyse Current

• Identify where current practices would need to change

• Specify roles & responsibilities• Identify training requirements; tools and process• Create a Cost Benefit Analysis Model• Identify likely tools and general costs• Identify pilot project/release and implementation

milestones

B C C M S G

A Learning Organisation

• That can work practically with the Process• Can deliver fast but with quality• Can deliver fast but with control

– Protecting the assets of the future• Learns and reuses from the past• Identifies Risks & Prioritises Change

B C C M S G

Organisation

Business RiskManagement

DevelopmentManagement

Quality & VerificationManagement

Risk & Issues DB

Business Priority,Commercial &Technical Analysisof Change.

RequirementsCatalogue

Design Products

Build Products

ImplementationProducts

Test Management

Change ManagementRelease Management

Configuration Management

AuditManagement

Project ManagementAims, Objectives, Financial, Quality, Principles & Policies

B C C M S G Remember Quality

e.g. EFQM Business Excellence Model

Leadership10%

PeopleManagement

9%

Policy &Strategy

8%

Partnership & Resources

9%

PeopleSatisfaction

9%

CustomerSatisfaction

20%

Impact onSociety

6%

Processes14%

BusinessResults

15%

Innovation and Learning

Enablers 50% Results 50%

B C C M S G

To be successful ……

Processes

PeopleTechnology

Invest in processes + people + tools

Avoid bureacracy