This article is part of the How Do YOU CM2? blog series in collaboration with the Institute for Process Excellence (IpX). Although I receive compensation for writing this series, I stand behind its content. I will only continue to create and publish high-quality articles that I can fully endorse. Enjoy this new series, and please share your thoughts!
In case you missed it, here are the 3 How Do YOU CM2? posts. Also, make sure you check out the previous newsletter article: Can you afford not to invest in Enterprise Configuration Management?
CM2 is not just about documentation!
When someone mentioned 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗴𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 (CM), our minds probably went straight to mountains of paperwork, endless checklists, and the meticulous act of documenting every single change. And yes, good (clear, concise, and valid) documentation is absolutely crucial, it’s foundational! But if we stop there, especially with something as powerful as CM2, we’re missing the entire point.
This is the point: CM2 isn’t just about recording “what changed.” It’s a proactive heartbeat for your entire organization and product lifecycle. It’s about building a living system that keeps everything clear, controlled, and consistent, even when things get super complex. Not just for product baselines, but also for your organization’s baselines. Think of it as the framework that lets you move fast without breaking things.
Consider these points:
𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. CM2 digs deeper. It sets up solid baselines, handles any unexpected twists, and creates a clear trail from every single idea right through to its finished product.
𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀. CM2 bakes in robust change processes, helps you really understand the ripple effect of any alteration, and adds verification steps. We’re talking about catching issues before they become a headache, not just writing them down afterward.
𝗖𝗠𝟮 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲. CM2 gives organizations the confidence to embrace change head-on. It focuses on identifying all configuration-relevant information elements, the relationships between them, and the owners of the information elements. You know that every change is understood, approved, and correctly put into action across all your teams. It’s the secret sauce that lets innovation flourish while keeping everything stable and sound. Even when you move from classic documents to models, CM2 can accommodate.
I’ve had the privilege of seeing companies truly transform when they embrace CM2 not as a bureaucratic burden, but as a genuine strategic superpower. It shifts you from simply tracking changes to actually orchestrating them – empowering your teams and protecting your valuable assets.
So, for this installment of “How do YOU CM2?”, I want to throw out a challenge:
𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙤 𝙔𝙊𝙐 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝘾𝙈2 𝙜𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙚𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜? 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙥𝙨 𝙙𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝘾𝙈2 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚?
Spoiler Alert: Configuration Management is not only for Engineers!
Alright, let’s bust a persistent myth that really holds Configuration Management (CM) and more specifically CM2 back: the fact that it’s an engineering activity. Yes, engineers are essential. But confining CM to their world is like owning a Ferrari and never leaving the driveway.
For a long time, CM has been confined to engineering and/or IT departments. And of course, engineers are absolutely critical to CM! But if we limit CM to engineering only, we are down right denying ourselves its huge potential to impact the entire business. It’s like having a Ferrari that you just keep in the garage gathering dust and never take out for a spin. What a waste!
All functions in an organization benefit from good Enterprise CM practices:
Sales & Marketing teams? Imagine knowing, with 100% certainty, the exact features and versions of every product you’re selling or promoting. No more embarrassing miscommunications or out-of-date information (e.g., having a 10m long mini-jack to jack plug adapter, yes, that has happened). CM gives you that single source of truth, which makes your pitches sharper and campaigns more accurate.- Legal & Compliance? Regulations and protecting your intellectual property demand having precise, traceable configuration records. CM lays the foundation to build robust audit trails for everything from certifications to defending your IP.
- Procurement & Supply Chain? Knowing the exact configuration of parts, sub-assemblies, and finished goods means you’re ordering precisely what you need, managing old stock smartly, and dodging supply chain headaches. It ensures what’s designed gets built and bought.
- Customer Service & Field Ops? When a customer calls with an issue, picture your service team instantly pulling up the exact build state of their product. CM means faster fixes, correct spare parts, and way happier customers.
Sales & Marketing teams? Imagine knowing, with 100% certainty, the exact features and versions of every product you’re selling or promoting. No more embarrassing miscommunications or out-of-date information (e.g., having a 10m long mini-jack to jack plug adapter, yes, that has happened). CM gives you that single source of truth, which makes your pitches sharper and campaigns more accurate.
Legal & Compliance? Regulations and protecting your intellectual property demand having precise, traceable configuration records. CM lays the foundation to build robust audit trails for everything from certifications to defending your IP.
Procurement & Supply Chain? Knowing the exact configuration of parts, sub-assemblies, and finished goods means you’re ordering precisely what you need, managing old stock smartly, and dodging supply chain headaches. It ensures what’s designed gets built and bought.
Customer Service & Field Ops? When a customer calls with an issue, picture your service team instantly pulling up the exact build state of their product. CM means faster fixes, correct spare parts, and way happier customers.I’ve seen companies transform when they break down these old walls. They realize that CM2 principles are foundational for any department that deals with defined, evolving information, whether it’s product data, service offerings, or even just how you do things internally.
So, for this edition of “How do YOU CM2?”, I’m genuinely curious:
How have YOU seen CM2 stretch beyond the traditional engineering teams in your organization? What successes or unexpected challenges popped up when you tried to spread its value to different departments?
The Magic of a Closed-Loop Change Process
Hey everyone, building on our last post about how CM2 isn’t just for engineers. Today, I want to share one of the biggest game-changers I’ve seen in making that appearingly magical cross-functional collaboration happen: it’s all about having an 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱-𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗽 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀.
And no, that’s not just a fancy term. This is the beating heart of the CM2 framework. Think of it this way: For proper Configuration Management knowing what you have is not enough, it also requires knowing how ‘what you have’ changes – from the very first idea, all the way through to its final retirement.
I’ve seen many organizations wrestling with messy, fragmented change management. A new requirement pops up, engineering jumps on it, but does finance even know about the cost implications? Did procurement order the right new parts? Is customer service prepped for the update? So often, these connections are manual, stuck in their own little silos, and just screaming for mistakes to happen. Leading to endless delays, tons of rework, and sometimes even tricky compliance nightmares.
So, what does a good closed-loop change process, backed by CM2, do for you? It makes sure of a few key things:
- 𝗧𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Every single step – from the first idea to the final product – is linked. Imagine being able to trace anything back to its origin, understanding exactly why and how it came to be!
- 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲’𝘀 𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗽: When a change is suggested, everyone who’s affected (and I mean everyone!) gets a heads-up. Finance, legal, sales, service – they’re all in the loop. No more surprises or working in the dark.
- 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: No more “just doing it” or those sneaky “shadow changes.” Changes are carefully planned, executed perfectly according to a clear plan, and double-checked against requirements. It’s about control, not chaos.
- 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: And this is where the “closed loop” part gets really powerful. It’s not over when the change is done. We feed performance data, customer feedback, and lessons learned back into the system. This directly fuels future improvements and keeps us constantly evolving.
𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: No more “just doing it” or those sneaky “shadow changes.” Changes are carefully planned, executed perfectly according to a clear plan, and double-checked against requirements. It’s about control, not chaos.
𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: And this is where the “closed loop” part gets really powerful. It’s not over when the change is done. We feed performance data, customer feedback, and lessons learned back into the system. This directly fuels future improvements and keeps us constantly evolving.Watching this unfold in companies, where teams go from constantly fighting fires to executing in perfect sync and doubling the amount of changes they process. It empowers your whole organization to innovate super fast while keeping control and clarity. Think of it as shifting from reaction mode to orchestration—CM2 gives you the tools to design change, not just survive it.
So, for this round of “How do YOU CM2?”, I’m curious:
Have you tried implementing a closed-loop change process? What were your biggest wins, or even the biggest headaches, getting everyone on board and connected?
Let’s keep building a more robust future for Enterprise CM together!
Copyrights by the Institute for Process Excellence