Models and applications of configuration management

This paper presents an overview of configuration management, treating the concept in its widest context and evaluating its potential and state of evolution. The history of the subject is traced from its origins in the technological expansion of the mid 1960s through to modern developments associated with information systems and document processing. Generalized concepts of CM are reviewed, drawing on the existing literature, with a number of CM models being compared and contrasted. Also assessed is the role which CM has recently played in a number of industries ranging from software-development through to building construction, manufacturing, nuclear power and shipbuilding. It is argued that changes in the availability and capability of modern information systems, coupled with the all pervading emphasis on quality management will, in future, provide added emphasis to the discipline of CM. As a result, it is envisaged that this relatively unfamiliar technique will see much expanded application throughout the industrial sector in the 1990s.