Software configuration management is an umbrella activity which is applied by the software procedure. SCM identifies controls, audits and reports modifications that invariably occur while software is being established and after it has been publish to a client. All information produced as part of the software procedure becomes categories of a software configuration. The configuration is organized in manner which enables orderly control of change.
The software configuration is composed of a group interrelated objects also called software configuration items which are published as a result of some software engineering action. Moreover to documents programs and data the development environment which is used to build software can also be placed under configuration control.
Once a configuration object has been reviewed and established it becomes a baseline. The changes to a baseline object result in the creation of a new edition of that particular object. The development of a program can be tracked through examining the revision history of all configuration objects. Aggregate and basic objects forms object pool from that versions and variants are created. Versions control is group of tools and procedures for managing the use of these objects.
Change control is a procedural activity which ensures consistency and quality as changes are made to a configuration object. The change control procedure starts with a change request leads to a decision to make or reject the request for change and culminates with a controlled update of the SCI which is to be changed. Configuration audit is an SQA activity which helps to ensure that quality is maintained as changes are made. The Status reporting gives information about each change to those with a requirement to know.