Enterprise application configuration management

Published: 30 January 2024
Contributors: Chrystal R. China, Michael Goodwin

Configuration management is a systems engineering process that helps businesses maintain the performance quality and functionality of a given product, system or other IT asset throughout its lifecycle.

Tailored configuration management (CM) practices enable system administrators to track the state of assets (like computer systems, servers and applications) so that teams can quickly identify issues, effectively manage change control and prevent configuration drift and unnecessary downtime.

The discipline started in the U.S. military—namely the Department of Defense—which sought to increase the lifespan of its hardware equipment without sacrificing performance over time. The military eventually created the 480 series, a set of governing standards for maintaining technical equipment, which evolved into the ANSI–EIA–649 (the National Consensus Standard for Configuration Management) in 1998.

The primary goal of CM is to control the evolution of complex systems and create vigilant record-keeping processes that streamline and accelerate IT asset management. CM practices ensure that a system's design, implementation and operational information are always in sync, facilitating efficient version management and preventing the system instabilities that can occur with untracked modifications. In other words, CM ensures that IT assets remain in their desired state, regardless of how they evolve over time.

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CM processes are driven by management tools that allow IT administrators to build a workstation or server with specific settings and then apply those settings to other assets. Used in concert with IT service management (as defined by the ITIL), CM requires teams to monitor the state of a system in real time to identify aberrant behavior and/or opportunities for patches, updates or upgrades.

Specifically, CM involves the following key processes:

Configuration identification is the process of determining the attributes that define every aspect of a configuration item (CI) at any point in time. It also includes pivotal decisions about configuration items (the software or infrastructure initiative, module or API the team will monitor and control), identifiers (the unique serial or version number or other tracking mechanism for each CI) and baselines (typically, the configuration of a working production environment).

Configuration change control, also called configuration control, is a strategy for handling changes systematically so that asset integrity remains consistent across its lifespan. It typically involves several stabilizing practices, including submitting change proposals, evaluating each proposal’s cost and benefits, getting the requisite approvals from authorizing parties, and implementing and documenting changes.

CSA involves documenting all configuration identification details (e.g., location, version, current status) and change details (date, responsible party, description of modifications). The process also includes generating regular status and historical records for stakeholders, verifying all records for accuracy and creating an accessible audit trail.

Configuration auditing is the formal process of assessing how well CI and CM practices conform to the established standards and baselines, including identifying and resolving anomalies. Auditing might entail evaluation of physical attributes, functional attributes or both.

A CMP outlines the specific CM practices, procedures and schedules designated for a particular project or organization. It usually includes information about related processes, as well as complete details on CM scope and objectives, CM activities, roles and responsibilities, baseline management, team training procedures and any tools the team will use to support the process.