Softwares Management and the Configuration Process - Essay Example

SOFTWARES MANAGEMENT AND THE CONFIGURATION PROCESS by Student’s Name Code + Course Name Professor’s Name University Name City, State Date Contents Introduction 3 Best Practices 5 Use of change packages to integrate with issue tracking 5 Often Merging and Integrating at an Early Stages 6 Enforcement of the rules of merging and time planning 6 Continuous Integration 6 Creation of a structure that enables distributed development 7 Using a branching system that is promotional based 7 Key activities 8 Inputs 8 Outputs 8 Tools 9 Configuration management 9 Performance measurements 9 Additional planning 9 Outputs 10 Tools that aid best practices 10 Desirability and relevance of the change 10 Communicating the changes at all the levels in the organization 11 The impact of human factors on requirement change. 12 Perform scientific research 12 Perform systems analysis 12 Integrating solutions 12 Conclusion 12 Recommendations 13 Reference 14 Appendix 15 Introduction A system comprises of parts or components that are organized so as to accomplish certain functions or a set of these features for that matter. System configurations hence become the functional characteristics of the software, hardware or both. Technical parts of the system should be managed through configuration management CM, where the configuration of the system at particular junctures in period is identified, and the alterations to the configuration systematically controlled the integrity and tracking of the settings in the whole life cycle of the system maintained. Configuration Management is very critical in software engineering. The Change Management process should ensure that the methods and the procedures followed during the process of change management are standardized so as to bring to a minimum the impact of incidents related to change on the quality of the service. In so doing, improvement in the daily running of the organization is more than achievable. The team, therefore, needs to track changes and be in control so as to associate code fixes and or enhancements with problems and automate patches. Launching of new software, for example, means that there are a lot of things that should be associated with these software and not just the joy of having achieved a great deal of launching something new. Some of the major problems that one can come into contact with after the software has been rolled out include bugs and changes to the software. Software Configuration Management ensures that the software services, goods and all its processes in the life cycle of the software match with their specified needs and requirements, this process of management is done by planning, acting and carrying out sets of activities that provide enough confidence of quality manufactured with the software [1]. Another important thing about CM is that it saves money because organized codes make it easy to prevent mistakes and duplications between multiple developers. Documentation of the changes in the software makes it easy to control and provide comfortable running through in case of doubts, this increases productivity especially during development and hence saving the cost of building and running the software. Tracing of the problem back to its root cause is not just the biggest advantage of SCM, controlling access to the code and the changes made to this system matters too. It enables you to propagate only what you intended the software to provide to the users. A workflow for reviewing, approving and incorporating changes is also a big advantage of software configuration management. Configuration identification also provides for working on a software change while tracing a bug that has just occurred separately and hopefully fixing it. However, there are challenges associated with software configuration and change management, and some of them are as below. Constraints Challenges and or constraints affecting SCM come from varied sources. Corporations set policies and procedures prescribing the design and the implementation of SCM processes for individual projects. Developers might also get into contracts that have provisions affecting the process of SCM. Regulatory bodies might also impose constraints when software products influence the overall product for example. Multiple IT environments that dictate that different groups of people manage servers making it difficult to track and be up to date with changes in the fast developments and production and problem recovery surroundings. What encompasses a shift in software may not be fully captured, this makes the process of change validation tough. It also links with the problem of difficulty in viewing or identifying and analyzing the overwhelming configuration information, secluding the critical from the noncritical and making sense out of all this [8]. Adding to these challenges are organizations which mix system and software components and infrastructure from external sources, and those that are customized hence varying the knowledge and control levels. Finally, the uses of multiple vendors that located across time zones make it hard to carry out the process of change. Here there exist practice and communication gaps among the individuals involved in actualizing the change process [10]. Best Practices Best practice techniques produce the best results as compared to the results achieved by the various methods in a particular field. They are standard ways of doing things. Nearly every profession and or industry discusses best practices, and information technology is not an exception. Business's areas also use best practices; an example is computer programming. Best practices maximize the effectiveness of organizations, therefore choosing the right practices and procedures is essential for the success of these institutions [3]. Use of change packages to integrate with issue tracking Issue tracking systems are used as a first step in the creation and assigning of issues to members, dynamic changes against an already existing code base to bring it to completion take place when an issue is in development. It creates a useful link therefore that enables the tracking of a problem back to the tool used in planning and enables the other team members to quickly help with the completion of the issue and further track its status [2]. Change packages link the alterations contained in the files and directories with a cause for the data to change and further give a glimpse into history. The work of the developers is eased in this case, and they are no longer required to memorize revision numbers so as to pull together a release. Therefore, the gist is to make the integration a less time-consuming event and as tight as possible so that the developers can link their code changes with issues. It makes it easy to follow a code's status through the life cycles of the problems due to change packages. Merging and Integrating at an Early Stages The process of merging involves bringing together subgroups of code at an often or frequent interval to minimize the potentiality of a failed merge process. Making the change at little but incremental sizes makes the process not to fail as a result of committing the process using large amounts of data at once. It is, therefore, the duty of organizations or developers to choose the right SCM to enhance merging and integration. This can be carried out by choosing the appropriate branching and merging pattern. In this way, developers and or team members find it easy when branching patterns provide a way to move and integrate code among different branches. It makes it simpler to recognise where a change belongs to at any given point in time. Integration and this can be carried out by: Choosing the appropriate branching and merging pattern: developers and or team members find it easy when branching patterns provide a way to move and integrate code among different branches. It makes it easier to recognize where a change belongs to at any given point in time. Enforcement of the rules of merging and time planning Private workspaces and branches should be created by team members so that they can create, release and test codes before they hand them over to other team members. There has to be a vision into the merge process: team members should have a clear picture of where to merge to, and from, they should also be provided for the information of when to push the changes to other team members by a pattern that is easy to interpret. Continuous Integration The process of continuous integration involves the building of codes frequently and performing necessary tests on the built codes. Teams will be able to focus on incremental issues and move ahead with fixing the problems other than waiting. Some of the practices that corporations can adapt to aid with continuous integration are for example: Use of an SCM to store all source codes including components and libraries, Utilization of private developer workspaces these are places for building, and testing of codes before passing it over to their fellow team members. Enhancing local developer builds so as to avoid uncalled for problems, the establishment of a system that updates code and especially in the SCM system so that teams can also upgrade the code with each other, Creation of staging avenues for every step of the process and automation of every process in the built hierarchical process. Creation of a structure that enables distributed development The fact that development teams might not be in the same location during the building and development of code makes it somewhat difficult due to issues to do with security auditing and problems with integration, it, therefore, calls for the real-time exchange of code integration and feedback from team members. It ensures that every member of the team is up to date and current with the developments and suggestions raised. It is important that teams utilize DVCS to manage the changes. DVSC alleviates LAN/ WAN barriers and decentralizes this process in some cases because it can be challenging to manage change and systems over LAN especially for teams that are non-local. The only way to show real-time changes between sites is by use of SCM tools that overcome the challenges of boundaries and delays and that are the use of Distributed Version Control Systems. Using a branching system that is promotional based Patterns exist to manage the software team’s process of development and make it easy to follow through on the process that needs to happen so as to release at least a piece of the software. Promotional-based patterns of branching have the ability to map a developmental process other than just behaving like traditional patterns of branching that just release the project. Promotional models act as points of integration where management of each of the methods of transfer, and code integrations takes place. Small scale project Project Integration Management entails the processes that a project requires to ensure that every element of the project is well organized and coordinated. The overall change control describes the influence of the factors that create alterations so as to ensure the alterations are of benefit, ensuring that the change has occurred and handling changes when they finally occur [5]. Key activities Outlining all he approved changes in the plan Ensuring that changes in the scope of the project are indicated in the scope of the project Coordination of the changes across areas of knowledge Inputs The project plan It provides the starting point for controlling the changes Performance reports Performance report acts as a source of information on the performance of the project. They can also be an indicator to the development team of issues to that may cause problems in the future Change requests These are requests to initiate the change process and may occur in various forms for example orally, written or direct or indirect. Tools The change control system This system is a group of procedures that are formal and documented and define the step by which the job and or project may be modified. It is inclusive of the paperwork, systems of tracking and approvals for authorization of the changes I the project. Alterations that may be approved without prior review should also be tackle in the shift control system. Configuration management It is a procedure that involves the processes geared towards ensuring that the description of the product of the project is correct and it has been followed to the later or is complete in other words. It is a rigorous change control system as it involves: identifying and documenting the physical features of a system, monitoring the changes that may arise, recording and reporting the changes and auditing the systems for verification. Performance measurements Examples of the techniques used I measurement are for example the earned value method, it is used to in assessing whether deviations from the plan will necessitate corrective action. Additional planning In most cases, projects spill out of the scheme to include other factors that were not catered for, and so new plan exists to ensure that adjustments to the project for example by factoring in risks is considered. Outputs Plan updates: Updates on the project plan need to be identified and reported to the parties interested. Corrective action: It is undertaken to bring back the project on the scheme. Lessons learnt: The knowledge is drawn from carrying out the project and includes: the causes of the deviations and or variances I the project, the corrective action picked, and the reasoning behind that action, and any other lessons drawn are to be documented for future referrals an use. Tools that aid best practices Choosing of the Right change agents At the beginning of the modification process, it is usually very demanding and challenging. To support the change process, one needs to identify and support the change process. Individuals with strong convictions and the capacity to work and deliver should be identified and picked for this stage. Tools that aid best practices Choosing of the Right change agents At the beginning of the change process, it is usually very demanding and challenging. To support the change process, one needs to identify and support the change process. Individuals with strong convictions and the capacity to work and deliver should be identified and picked for this stage [6]. Desirability and relevance of the change The development team needs to understand the importance of the change; this can be achieved by highlighting to them the current problems being experienced with the current system, followed by a designed and well-researched presentation of that supports the change process. Next up is the relevance of the modification, outline the objectives of the firm and describing how the change will help achieve the goals the team is a big step towards showing the relevance of the change. Communicating the changes at all the levels in the organization Immediate supervisors and CEO’s should be the drivers of the change campaign. Employees or team members will listen more to this people. The change should be incremental and should be as soon as possible. There is no such thing as the right time, therefore every time is the right time and there should be no hesitation in communicating the change to the team members. The changes should also happen steadily rather than just abruptly as this may cause repulsion and hence chaos. Immediate supervisors and CEO’s should be the drivers of the change campaign. Employees or team members will listen more to this people. The change should be incremental and should be as soon as possible There is no such thing as the right time. Therefore every time is the right time and there should be no hesitation in communicating the change to team members. The changes should also happen steadily rather than just abruptly as this may cause repulsion and hence chaos. Correcting the setbacks before the roll out The software needs to be looked at again to ensure that it is free of bugs [4]. Find help from within and fully integrate the change Begin highly respected team members in the team to effect the change. They help spread the positive vibe and then move onto helping the other team members and helping them with the faster adaptation of the change. Hold regular meetings with this individuals to help stress out the importance of the change process and its benefits. Identify the points of weaknesses and correct on the soon enough to avoid catastrophes. Finally, give the team members time to internalize the change. Allow room for corrections and queries from the team members. Be very flexible, collaborative and accommodative so as to go ahead swiftly with the change process.   Impact of human factors on requirement change. One important role played by the human factor in the process of change requirement is the testing function. Human factors play a role in ensuring the quality of the product is upheld, finding and fixing problems and usability gaps that may be present in the product. They are in other words end-users, and so they provide the perspective of an end-user. Perform scientific research Human factors are essential in providing the required research on the change process, this involves how it can best be done and scientific knowledge required to propagate the change [7]. Perform systems analysis Analyzing the system is crucial in picking out bugs for example and ensuring that the process has been carried out according to plan. Ultimately it also ensures that before rolling out of the software, there are bugs and it is clear to use by the consumers. . Integrating solutions Involves functions such as organizational changes and support, and the support can come in the form of training where the other team members are trained about the changes about to occur. Analysis and in this case, cost-benefit analysis is also carried by human factors and is important to give directions on what best practices to involve in the change process [11]. Conclusion In conclusion software development involves important components that are all geared towards ensuring that the process of SCM best carried out [9]. SCM practices are one of the imperative pieces of this process, new teams have stepped up code delivery by delivering codes more frequently than before. Therefore best practices can be used to scale a firms SCM rollout and keep the development team focused on what is important. In general, the process of SCM revolves around equipping oneself with the appropriate research, finding the right team to work with after initiating the process of change, motivating your team to engage in the change and finally going ahead with the change process. Recommendations a) Firms should ensure that they identify the right team to carry out the process of change, this should also be done in a very careful and systematic manner by first of all starting with the most respected members of a team then spreading the influence down to the rest of the team b) Configuration of a system though might seem like not a very important aspect, it is essential in ensuring that alterations to the code or software are authorized and recorded and therefore this method should be adopted by all developers and organizations. References [1] Bmc.com. (2017). ITIL Change Management: Best Practices & Processes - BMC Software. [online] Available at: http://www.bmc.com/guides/itil-change-management.html [Accessed 29 Apr. 2017]. [2] Bourque, P. and Fairley, R.E., 2014. Guide to the software engineering body of knowledge (SWEBOK (R)): Version 3.0. IEEE Computer Society Press. [3] Camp, R.C. and Camp Robert, C., 1989. Benchmarking: the search for industry best practices that lead to superior performance. [4] Cigniti Technologies. (2017). Independent Software Testing Services Company | Cigniti Technologies. [online] Available at: http://www.cigniti.com/ [Accessed 29 Apr. 2017]. [5] Chrissis, M.B., Konrad, M. and Shrum, S., 2011. CMMI for development: guidelines for process integration and product improvement. Pearson Education. [6] CMMI Product Team, "CMMI for Development, Version 1.3," Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Technical Report CMU/SEI-2010-TR-033, 2010. http://resources.sei.cmu.edu/library/asset-view.cfm?AssetID=9661 [7] Gallimore, J.J., 2004. Importance of Human Factors in Quality Improvement. [8] Humphrey, W.S. and Sweet, W.L., 1987. A Method for assessing the software engineering capability of contractors: preliminary version (No. CMU/SEI-87-TR-23). CARNEGIE-MELLON UNIV PITTSBURGH PA SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INST. [9] Rising, L. and Janoff, N.S., 2000. The Scrum software development process for small teams. IEEE software, 17(4), pp.26-32. [10] Sherman, M., Mody, A.N., Martinez, R., Rodriguez, C. and Reddy, R., 2008. IEEE standards supporting cognitive radio and networks, dynamic spectrum access, and coexistence. IEEE Communications Magazine, 46(7). [11] Team, C.P., 2011. CMMI for Services Version 1.3. Lulu. com. Appendix Fig-1 SCM activities @techreport{ProductCMMIfor2010, title={CMMI for Development, Version 1.3}, author={CMMI Product Team}, year={2010}, number={CMU/SEI-2010-TR-033}, institution={Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University}, address={Pittsburgh, PA}, url={http://resources.sei.cmu.edu/library/asset-view.cfm?AssetID=9661} } http://archive.cnx.org/contents/6a431de2-ff2b-4b06-afbf-1779e7ddf237@1/software-configuration-management price Read More