Itil defines a ci as any component that needs to be managed in order to deliver an it service. A software baseline includes the source code for each software configuration item and a software baseline document that provides a listing of the software and any other pertinent information such as developer, version, or software libraries. A software baseline contains all of a systems software. The selection of work products for configuration management should be based on criteria established during planning. Understand how to define scm and discuss how to accomplish it. Configuration item type can be defined only for the new ci and cannot be changed afterward. Computer software configuration item article about computer. Computer software configuration item article about. Csci an aggregation of software that satisfies an end use function and is designated for separate. Software configuration management is the process of identifying and defining the software configuration items in a system, controlling the release and change of these items throughout the system lifecycle, recording and reporting the status of configuration items and change requests, and verifying the completeness and correctness of. Every configuration item must have a category and possibly subcategories that define what type of item it is. Software configuration management scm a practical guide. What is configuration management and how does it work.
A configuration item ci is any service component, infrastructure element, or other. In other words, version numbers and configuration item registration codes help in uniquely identifying configuration items. Information about configuration allows users to determine whether a particular application can be run or not. A configuration item is an entity designated for configuration management, which may consist of multiple related work products that form a baseline. Jan 25, 2018 software configuration management scm is a set of processes, policies, and tools that organize the development process. Software configuration item how is software configuration. A configuration item, or ci, is anything uniquely identifiable that can be changed independently. Note that this function is usually performed by a source code control system, however a manual record may have to be kept of the documents that describe various versions of. Specify the data definition in the main type class. Software configuration management scm is a set of processes, policies, and tools that organize the development process. The term configuration item or ci refers to the fundamental structural unit of a configuration management system.
Computer software configuration item how is computer software configuration item abbreviated. Configuration items can overlap and exist at many levels of. Software configuration management scm process and procedure. In itil terminology, configuration items ci are components of an infrastructure that currently is, or soon will be under configuration management. An asset, service component or other item that is, or will be, under the control of configuration\nmanagement d. In software engineering, software configuration management scm or sw cm is the task of tracking and controlling changes in the software, part of the larger crossdisciplinary field of configuration management. What are hardware configuration items and how are they. The representations of these entities in the cmdb are configuration items cis. Definition an aggregation of hardware, software, or both, that is designated for configuration management and treated as a single entity in the configuration management process. In this series of cmsights posts from cmstat on configuration management best practices we will describe what are hardware configuration items ci or hwci and where they are used. Simple configuration item checkbox has the following options. Explaining configuration item ci, cmdb, cms and dml. A definition of configuration identification with a few examples. This is presumably a subset of the changebased definition, so the result is a more manageable set.
The configuration management system oversees the life of the cis through a combination of process and tools by implementing and enabling the fundamental elements of identification, change. The classifications, or types, of actual configuration items are defined in the. A ci is a software model that contains the attributes of the represented entity. The thing that a change control request is requesting to be changed explanation of computer software configuration item. As far as i can tell, csci was defined in the same logic as hwci hardware configuration item in dodstd2167a which simply defined csci as a configuration item. Application configuration item example 1 configuration. Each element in the it environment is an individual entity requiring accurate capture of its attributes. Configure classifications and products configuration.
Use configuration items and configuration management. To define and control the performance of a system or ci, does not mean that all of its hardware and software components must be designated as cis, nor does it. Official definition of csci computer software configuration. A collection of information used to describe a hardware or software item c. In the configuration manager console, navigate to administration site configuration sites select the central administration site or the standalone primary site. In information technology, a configuration item is a component of a system that can be identified as a selfcontained unit for purposes of change. Every dcm digest must contain exactly one configuration item. Configuration management this is the technical surveillance over the life cycle of items to identify and document the functional and physical characteristics of configuration items. The term configuration item ci refers to the fundamental structural unit of a configuration management system. Cis are the basic units of configuration management.
Simply put, a ci is an instance of an entity that is part of your environment and has configurable attributes specific to that instance. Configuration identification is the process of identifying configuration items and their attributes. All configuration items cis are uniquely identified by ci registration codes and version numbers. Software configuration an overview sciencedirect topics. Configuration item the term configuration item or ci refers to the fundamental structural unit of a configuration management system. Configuration item as with baselining, configuration items identification configuration item are clearly identification is identified, defined not explicitly and documented in addressed by any detail. This is kind of circular because one needs configuration data to answer the question, but any circular definition like that can in practice be resolved by some practical bootstrapping and iterative refinement.
It can have many child cis, such as an operating system, application software, and hardware components. Configuration management cm is a governance and systems engineering process for ensuring consistency among physical and logical assets in an operational environment. To configure classifications and products to synchronize. Information recorded by the service desk when an incident is reported. This logical grouping provides ease of identification and controlled access. An asset is often a configuration item but configuration items are not necessarily assets.
Note that this function is usually performed by a source code control system, however a manual record may have to be kept of the documents that describe various versions of hardware and software configuration items. A operating system installed on a particular machine can be considered a. Sometimes, people specifically point to hardware arrangement as hardware configuration and to software components as software configuration. Without a clear definition of what qualifies as a ci, you will constantly struggle with deciding whether to put certain kinds of data into the cmdb. It services are typically made up of a bunch of individual components things like servers, software and middleware, and unique configuration information. Configuration item article about configuration item by. Dec 27, 2016 a definition of configuration item with several examples. The unique identity of the configuration item is the combination of the attributes authoringscopeid, logicalname and version. A configuration item ci is an infrastructure component provided by an organization to its customers. Which is the best definition of a configuration item ci. Configuration items may vary widely in complexity, size and type, ranging from an entire system including all hardware, software and documentation, to a single module, a minor hardware component or a single. May 04, 2019 itil v3 describes configuration item ci as a subset of service asset that has a direct impact on service delivery and needs to be managed in order to deliver an it service. A software baseline locks in a version, build number, or release number at a particular moment in time. Examples of cis include individual requirements documents, software, models, and plans.
In this context, it is very important to remember that all cis are service assets. Configuration item ci a configuration item is an entity in a. Simple useful rules for defining configuration items the. Find out information about computer software configuration item. The goal of scm is to improve the speed of and quality by catching errors early and enabling quick fixes when they occur. Configuration items cis are the focal point of a cmdb.
Itil v3 describes configuration item ci as a subset of service asset that has a direct impact on service delivery and needs to be managed in order to deliver an it service in itil, configuration items cis are those service assets which are configurable and can be managed through change management. Configuration item configuration management systems. Software configuration item an overview sciencedirect. On the home tab, in the settings group, click configure site components, and then click software update point on the classifications tab, specify the software update. In other words, version numbers and configuration item registration codes help in. Selected items of system hardware or software or combinations of hardware and software, in which the government or acquiring activity has configuration management concern, are designated as configuration items cis. Examples of cis include individual requirements documents, software. In itil, configuration items cis are those service assets which are configurable and can be managed through change management. Computer software configuration item listed as csci.
Configuration consists of both hardware and software components. If something goes wrong, scm can determine what was changed and who changed it. Console asset extensions software configuration items use the software configuration items node to build a list of software assets. The definition of the pbs is expanded throughout the early software definition activity. In the case of software, configuration can also refer to the applications settings. Keep a configuration item register that describes the evolution of the software product.
Jan 05, 2017 configuration consists of both hardware and software components. Software configuration item how is software configuration item abbreviated. Configuration identification configuration management. Sap, expense account, payroll software or a corporate service e. Configuration management is all about identifying, defining and mapping all your assets and their relationships to one another. A configuration item is a product part or component. An item of hardware or software registered in the asset database b. The figure only shows a partial decomposition for one configuration item. Within this view, you can add values to the inventory and manage other aspects of software, such as license counts, license expiration dates, or even custom fields that support your business processes. Definition of configuration item ci configuration item ci a configuration item is an entity in a configuration management solution such as a cmdb.
Feb 27, 2019 software configuration management involves identifying configuration items for the software project, controlling these configuration items and changes to them, and recording and reporting status. Explaining configuration item ci, cmdb, cms and dml itil itsm. Official definition of csci computer software configuration item im looking for the most official definition of csci configuration item not just what it is but what we have to deliver can expect when a contract defines subsystems which shall be developed as configuration items. Configuration item matrix42 selfservice help center. An asset, service component or other item that is, or will be, under the control of configuration management d. Information about each ci is recorded in a configuration record within the configuration management system and is maintained throughout its lifecycle. The configuration management process seeks to identify and track individual configuration items cis, documenting functional capabilities, and interdependencies. I am very fortunate to read this post it has lot of good information where we can know about different subjects on a concept explained here who teach those subjects. Jan 05, 2017 definition what does configuration item ci mean. Software configuration management in software engineering. Computer software configuration item how is computer.
Scm practices include revision control and the establishment of baselines. A toplevel configuration item is a ci used as the starting point for organizing and promoting a set of related configuration items. Configuration item article about configuration item by the. A definition of configuration item with several examples. The item approval, which may be a written quality record or verbal, is a user requirement specification v. Computer software configuration item the it law wiki. The configuration management system oversees the life of the cis through a combination of processes and tools by implementing and enabling the. A configuration item is an entity or thing that you with to track that is required for the delivery of a service. In addition to its purpose in the implementation and management of a change, each configuration items listing and definition should act as. Configuration items can overlap and exist at many levels of granularity. Lets look at how configuration items cis are defined by some leading itsm sources. Definition an aggregation of hardware, software, or both, that is designated for configuration management and treated as a single entity in the. They are used in service management, change management, configuration management, incident management and a variety of other processes related to directing and controlling change. This digest defines an application configuration item.
Software configuration item an overview sciencedirect topics. Ci a component of a system that is treated as a self contained unit for the purposes of identification and change control. Computer software configuration item a group of software treated as a single entity by a configuration management cm system. Within each layer, relevant configuration items are decomposed and identified. If something goes wrong, scm can determine what was. These settings can either be set by default, or configured manually by the user. Summary if a new data definition composition was added to a configuration item with new product version and a custom composition for the same data definition already exists in the database, the custom composition needs to be changed to system protection level.