In Information Technology and telecommunication, the term configuration management has the following meanings:

1. [The] management of security features and assurances through control of changes made to hardware, software, firmware, documentation, test, test fixtures and test documentation of an automated information system, throughout the development and operational life of a system. Source Code Management or revision control is part of this.
2. The control of changes--including the recording thereof--that are made to the hardware, software, firmware, and documentation throughout the system lifecycle.

See also Configuration Management (ITIL), Capability Maturity Model (CMM)

Products for software configuration management (SCM)

• TRUEchange, www.mccabe.com/true.htm
• Aldon LM, complete configuration management solution for multiple-platforms (.scc compliant, eclipse compliant).
• GNU Arch, a distributed revision control system
• Code Co-op, affordable Peer-to-peer VCS for distributed development (.scc compliant)
• CVS, a descendant of RCS (.scc compliant?)
• Telelogic SYNERGY, a Task-Based CM system (.scc compliant)
• PVCS, a competitor of SCCS (.scc compliant)
• Rational ClearCase, a proprietary program (.scc compliant)
• RCS, a descendant of SCCS, diffs based on most recent version (.scc compliant)
• Visual SourceSafe (.scc compliant)
• Subversion the successor of CVS
• SCCS the original UNIX .scc program, based on diffs
• AllChange flexible configuration management solution
• Bitkeeper, a proprietary configuration management solution, the choice of the Linux Kernel developers
• AccuRev, a relatively new proprietary product
• Cfengine, administers and configures computers according to high-level language configuration files
• LCFG, a large scale UNIX configuration system
• Vesta (http://www.vestasys.org/), an advanced configuration management system. Free software. Used at Intel (http://www.intel.com/) for microprocessor design.
• AllFusion Harvest Change Manager, commercial change and configuration management tool from Computer Associates

Sites for configuration management

• CM Crossroads (http://www.cmcrossroads.com/), an online community for Configuration Management
• UCMcentral (http://www.snuffybear.com/ucmcentral.htm), Configuration Management Coffee Break Site
• Steve Easterbrook's CM Resource Guide [1] (http://www.cmiiug.com/faq-home.htm)
• Parallel Development Strategies for Software Configuration Management [2] (http://www.methodsandtools.com/archive/archive.php?id=12)

Source: from Federal Standard 1037C and from the National Information Systems Security Glossary