Software Configuration Management Plan (CMP) Template

Sudarsan Reddy
2 min readFeb 27, 2019

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Purpose of The Configuration Management Plan

The overall objective of a Software Configuration Management (SCM) Plan is to document and inform project stakeholders about CM with the project, what CM tools will be used, and how they will be applied by the project to promote success. The CM Plan defines the project’s structure and methods for

  • Identifying, defining, and baselining configuration items (CI)
  • Controlling modifications and releases of CIs
  • Reporting and recording status of CIs and any requested modifications
  • Ensuring completeness, consistency, and correctness of CIs
  • Controlling storage, handling, and delivery of the CIs

The intended audience of the CM Plan is the project manager, project team, project sponsor and any senior leaders whose support is needed to carry out communication plans.

Configuration Management

Approach
Identify the recommended CM approach (make or buy). Justify why one option was selected of the other. If purchasing a CM system, identify which system(s) were recommended as potential options and why one was chosen over the others.

Organization
Identify items such as how CM activities will impact the organization, definition of roles and responsibilities for those involved the CM activities and those impacted by them, what organizational policies and procedures may be impacted, and any interfaces between other organizations that may impact the CM effort.

Training
Identify the kind and amount of training necessary to bring the performing organization up to speed on what configuration management is, any tools used to perform CM activities, and what, if any, impact CM may have on how work is performed. This may include development team orientation, tools training, organizational awareness, etc.

Configuration Management Activities

Configuration Items
Identify what items will and will not be placed under CM.
Configuration Identification

Define how configuration items will be identified throughout the CM/Project life cycle. This section should define identification schemas for information such as:

  • Labeling and numbering documents and files
  • Relationships between documents and files
  • Addressing versions and releases
  • Change Control Forms
  • Various baselines for the project (product versioning)

Artifact Life Cycle
Define the artifact life cycle for the different CIs under CM

Configuration Control

Define how configuration items will be controlled throughout the CM/Project life cycle. This section should define procedures for items such as:

  • Changing baselines
  • Processing and managing change requests and Change Control Boards (CCBs)
  • Communicating configuration status
  • Performing configuration audits
  • Building, testing, and debugging workspaces
  • Who owns what product code and how to appropriately work with that code

Configuration Auditing/Reporting

Define how configuration items will be tracked, measured, and reported.

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Sudarsan Reddy

Product Marketer @KiSSFLOW | Content Marketing Strategist @WorkMinus | #SEO consultant for B2Bs | Arsenal supporter.