Help…Why is Configuration Management so Hard to Implement?

Why is Configuration Management so hard to implement and embed in an organization? Over the years I have been involved in various implementations of different aspects of Configuration Management. One thing that stood out was how difficult it is to get buy-in, to get real traction to implement the needed improvements, and to make them stick. This is not just my experience, I have heard this from many Configuration Management professionals. These people are passionate, have grit and perseverance to keep trying to move the needle in the right direction. And it is worth it!

Any change is hard, we the human species tend to avoid change if we can. Most of us tend to stay in our comfort zone rather than be confronted with uncertainty. Even if that uncertainty will lead us to a better place. In my post Doing the Right Thing I refer to the finite and infinite mindsets and the fact that you need a true cause for people to rally behind.

With Configuration Management, it is more complex.

When you want to improve the capability of mechanical engineering, you only have to get buy-in from mechanical engineers. You start with a few early adopters and start building from there.  But if you want to improve the capability of Configuration Management, you need to get buy-in from an entire organization as you will impact multiple functions across the organization. That means your cause needs to appeal to a lot of different people with different backgrounds before you can start. 

Another challenge is that in many organizations Configuration Management is considered to be part of engineering, or worse it is just an afterthought. However, Configuration Management is not an engineering capability. It is a discipline on its own. It is its own supporting function within an organization like Finance or HR.  

There are extensive standards that describe Configuration Management like SAE-EAI-649C or CM2, which is now available to everyone as a book. And while billions of Dollars/Euros are spent on recalls and quality escapes every year, there does not seem to be a natural inclination to improve the capability of CM to a level that ensures that information can be trusted. 

Joseph Anderson, president of the Institute for Process Excellence put it nicely in the IpX True North podcast: The Next Chapter: A Deep Dive into the CM2 Approach with the Authors of the CM2 Textbook:

“It’s the ability to trust what you’re eating is good it’s the ability to know when you start your vehicle in the morning and you get on the road your brakes are going to work it’s the ability to know when you board a plane that it’s gonna stay in the sky that’s why these things are so important to me”

Configuration Management is the ability to trust:

• trust that the food you give your children is safe. Recently excessive levels of lead were found in baby food.
• trust that when you get in your car, it will keep you safe. Remember the GM’s Ignition Switch with 124 deaths.
• trust that when you board a plane, it will not fall out of the sky. Remember the Boeing’s 737 Max 8 with 346 deaths
• trust that an oil rig will not explode and contaminate the ocean. Remember BP’s Deepwater Horizon with 11 fatalities and unparalleled economic and ecological damage.
• and many more…

The value of Configuration Management

The real value of an organization does not lie in the individual functions but in its ability to connect the dots across all functions and to do this well Configuration Management is a must. Configuration Management is the needle and thread that connects all the different functions and all the different data elements in a way that we can TRUST! That is what the Configuration Management professional tries to achieve. 

My challenge to the community for 2024

How can we help each other to elevate the position of Configuration Management? Feel free to reach out to me directly or leave a comment. 

Header Photo (cropped) by Markus Spiske on Unsplash