Configuration Management Plan and Change Management Control System

Configuration management system

Configuration management system in any project ensures that all the components of the project which will impact or change/ update for any change request should get updates done.

For example, if any of your project's approved change request need some project's design document to be updated. Through configuration management activities, you can ensure that updates are correctly implemented. In fact all the impacted components got the required changes.

As per PMBOK5, page # 96

Configuration control is focused on the specification of both the deliverables and the processes; while change control is focused on identifying, documenting, and approving or rejecting changes to the project documents, deliverables, or baselines.

Some of the configuration management activities included in the Perform Integrated Change Control process are as follows:

• Configuration identification: Identification and selection of a configuration item to provide the basis for which the product configuration is defined and verified, products and documents are labeled, changes are managed, and accountability is maintained.
  
  
• Configuration status accounting: Information is recorded and reported as to when appropriate data about the configuration item should be provided. This information includes a listing of approved configuration identification, status of proposed changes to the configuration, and the implementation status of approved changes.
  
  
• Configuration verification and audit: Configuration verification and configuration audits ensure the composition of a project’s configuration items is correct and that corresponding changes are registered, assessed, approved, tracked, and correctly implemented. This ensures the functional requirements defined in the configuration documentation have been met.

Configuration management plan

Configuration management plan is required to define approach the project manager wants to follow for configuration management such as what configuration tool will be used in the project, frequency of configuration audits, configuration of what all components need to be managed.

Change management control system

Change management of a project defines HOW the change requests will be managed in the project. Like who will be reviewing / approving/ rejecting the change requests, who all be part of project's CCB (Change Control Board), does project manager has any authority of approving any kind of change requests, etc.