<s>
Configuration	B-Architecture
management	I-Architecture
(	O
CM	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
process	O
for	O
establishing	O
and	O
maintaining	O
consistency	O
of	O
a	O
product	O
's	O
performance	O
,	O
functional	O
,	O
and	O
physical	O
attributes	O
with	O
its	O
requirements	O
,	O
design	O
,	O
and	O
operational	O
information	O
throughout	O
its	O
life	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Outside	O
the	O
military	O
,	O
the	O
CM	O
process	O
is	O
also	O
used	O
with	O
IT	O
service	O
management	O
as	O
defined	O
by	O
ITIL	O
,	O
and	O
with	O
other	O
domain	B-Application
models	I-Application
in	O
the	O
civil	O
engineering	O
and	O
other	O
industrial	O
engineering	O
segments	O
such	O
as	O
roads	O
,	O
bridges	O
,	O
canals	O
,	O
dams	O
,	O
and	O
buildings	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Configuration	B-Architecture
Management	I-Architecture
originated	O
in	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
Department	O
of	O
Defense	O
in	O
the	O
1950s	O
as	O
a	O
technical	O
management	O
discipline	O
for	O
hardware	O
material	O
items	O
—	O
and	O
it	O
is	O
now	O
a	O
standard	O
practice	O
in	O
virtually	O
every	O
industry	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
treat	O
CM	O
as	O
being	O
similar	O
to	O
a	O
librarian	O
activity	O
,	O
and	O
break	O
out	O
change	O
control	O
or	O
change	B-Application
management	I-Application
as	O
a	O
separate	O
or	O
stand	O
alone	O
discipline	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
professionals	O
mix	O
up	O
or	O
get	O
confused	O
with	O
Asset	O
management	O
(	O
AM	O
,	O
see	O
also	O
ISO/IEC	B-Application
19770	I-Application
)	O
,	O
where	O
it	O
inventories	O
the	O
assets	O
on	O
hand	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
disciplines	O
are	O
carried	O
out	O
as	O
policies	O
and	O
procedures	O
for	O
establishing	O
baselines	O
and	O
for	O
performing	O
a	O
standard	O
change-management	B-Application
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Configuration	B-Architecture
Control	I-Architecture
:	O
includes	O
the	O
evaluation	O
of	O
all	O
change-requests	O
and	O
change-proposals	O
,	O
and	O
their	O
subsequent	O
approval	O
or	O
disapproval	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	O
configuration	B-Architecture
management	I-Architecture
(	O
SCM	O
)	O
process	O
is	O
looked	O
upon	O
by	O
practitioners	O
as	O
the	O
best	O
solution	O
to	O
handling	O
changes	O
in	O
software	O
projects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Configuration	O
audits	O
are	O
broken	O
into	O
functional	O
and	O
physical	B-General_Concept
configuration	I-General_Concept
audits	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
functional	O
configuration	O
audit	O
ensures	O
that	O
functional	O
and	O
performance	O
attributes	O
of	O
a	O
configuration	O
item	O
are	O
achieved	O
,	O
while	O
a	O
physical	B-General_Concept
configuration	I-General_Concept
audit	I-General_Concept
ensures	O
that	O
a	O
configuration	O
item	O
is	O
installed	O
in	O
accordance	O
with	O
the	O
requirements	O
of	O
its	O
detailed	O
design	O
documentation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ITIL	O
specifies	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
a	O
Configuration	B-Architecture
management	I-Architecture
system	O
(	O
CMS	O
)	O
or	O
Configuration	B-Application
management	I-Application
database	I-Application
(	O
CMDB	B-Application
)	O
as	O
a	O
means	O
of	O
achieving	O
industry	O
best	O
practices	O
for	O
Configuration	B-Architecture
Management	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
CMDBs	B-Application
are	O
used	O
to	O
track	O
Configuration	O
Items	O
(	O
CIs	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
dependencies	O
between	O
them	O
,	O
where	O
CIs	O
represent	O
the	O
things	O
in	O
an	O
enterprise	O
that	O
are	O
worth	O
tracking	O
and	O
managing	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
but	O
not	O
limited	O
to	O
computers	O
,	O
software	O
,	O
software	O
licenses	O
,	O
racks	O
,	O
network	O
devices	O
,	O
storage	O
,	O
and	O
even	O
the	O
components	O
within	O
such	O
items	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
benefits	O
of	O
a	O
CMS/CMDB	O
includes	O
being	O
able	O
to	O
perform	O
functions	O
like	O
root	O
cause	O
analysis	O
,	O
impact	O
analysis	O
,	O
change	B-Application
management	I-Application
,	O
and	O
current	O
state	O
assessment	O
for	O
future	O
state	O
strategy	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
CM	O
for	O
information	O
assurance	O
,	O
sometimes	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
Secure	O
Configuration	B-Architecture
Management	I-Architecture
,	O
relies	O
upon	O
performance	O
,	O
functional	O
,	O
and	O
physical	O
attributes	O
of	O
IT	O
platforms	O
and	O
products	O
and	O
their	O
environments	O
to	O
determine	O
the	O
appropriate	O
security	O
features	O
and	O
assurances	O
that	O
are	O
used	O
to	O
measure	O
a	O
system	O
configuration	O
state	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
configuration	O
requirements	O
may	O
be	O
different	O
for	O
a	O
network	B-Application
firewall	I-Application
that	O
functions	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
an	O
organization	O
's	O
Internet	O
boundary	O
versus	O
one	O
that	O
functions	O
as	O
an	O
internal	O
local	O
network	B-Application
firewall	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Configuration	B-Architecture
management	I-Architecture
is	O
used	O
to	O
maintain	O
an	O
understanding	O
of	O
the	O
status	O
of	O
complex	O
assets	O
with	O
a	O
view	O
to	O
maintaining	O
the	O
highest	O
level	O
of	O
serviceability	O
for	O
the	O
lowest	O
cost	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Configuration	B-Architecture
management	I-Architecture
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
maintain	O
OS	B-General_Concept
configuration	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Example	O
systems	O
include	O
Ansible	B-Language
,	O
Bcfg2	B-Device
,	O
CFEngine	B-Protocol
,	O
Chef	B-Application
,	O
Nix	B-Application
,	O
Otter	B-General_Concept
,	O
Puppet	B-Application
,	O
Quattor	B-Device
,	O
SaltStack	B-Application
,	O
Terraform	B-General_Concept
,	O
Pulumi	O
and	O
Vagrant	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
of	O
these	O
systems	O
utilize	O
Infrastructure	B-Architecture
as	I-Architecture
Code	I-Architecture
to	O
define	O
and	O
maintain	O
configuration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Promise	O
theory	O
of	O
configuration	O
maintenance	O
was	O
developed	O
by	O
Mark	O
Burgess	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
practical	O
implementation	O
on	O
present	O
day	O
computer	O
systems	O
in	O
the	O
software	O
CFEngine	B-Protocol
able	O
to	O
perform	O
real	O
time	O
repair	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
preventive	O
maintenance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
number	O
of	O
standards	O
support	O
or	O
include	O
configuration	B-Architecture
management	I-Architecture
,	O
including	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Configuration	B-Architecture
Management	I-Architecture
Plan	O
United	O
States	O
Dept	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
More	O
recently	O
configuration	B-Architecture
management	I-Architecture
has	O
been	O
applied	O
to	O
large	O
construction	O
projects	O
which	O
can	O
often	O
be	O
very	O
complex	O
and	O
have	O
a	O
huge	O
number	O
of	O
details	O
and	O
changes	O
that	O
need	O
to	O
be	O
documented	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Construction	O
agencies	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Federal	O
Highway	O
Administration	O
have	O
used	O
configuration	B-Architecture
management	I-Architecture
for	O
their	O
infrastructure	O
projects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
construction-based	O
configuration	B-Architecture
management	I-Architecture
tools	O
that	O
aim	O
to	O
document	O
change	O
orders	O
and	O
RFIs	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
ensure	O
a	O
project	O
stays	O
on	O
schedule	O
and	O
on	O
budget	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
such	O
application	O
,	O
ccsNet	O
,	O
was	O
tested	O
in	O
a	O
case	O
study	O
funded	O
by	O
the	O
Federal	O
Transportation	O
Administration	O
(	O
FTA	O
)	O
in	O
which	O
the	O
efficacy	O
of	O
configuration	B-Architecture
management	I-Architecture
was	O
measured	O
through	O
comparing	O
the	O
approximately	O
80%	O
complete	O
construction	O
of	O
the	O
Los	O
Angeles	O
County	O
Metropolitan	O
Transit	O
Agency	O
(	O
LACMTA	O
)	O
first	O
and	O
second	O
segments	O
of	O
the	O
Red	O
Line	O
,	O
a	O
$5.3	O
billion	O
rail	O
construction	O
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
study	O
yielded	O
results	O
indicating	O
a	O
benefit	O
to	O
using	O
configuration	B-Architecture
management	I-Architecture
on	O
projects	O
of	O
this	O
nature	O
.	O
</s>
