#ConfigurationManagement is… #Planning! Planning is an essential part of #CM. Not only planning the implementation of changes, but also the planning of the evolution of your #ConfigurationItems. Planning provides an outlook of what is to come and supports in the alignment and #collaboration between different teams. It also allows you to be proactive in identifying #dependencies and mitigating #risks. What do you think? Join the conversation on LinkedIn.
#ConfigurationManagement is… #Communication! After talking about CM is… #ChangeControl, it is time to address a very important aspect of CM, which is Communication. #Changes are almost never isolated to a single function. This means that communication is key to ensure a change is successfully implemented. Not only is Communication critical to the success of Configuration Management and the implementation of changes, Configuration Management also streamlines communication & #collaboration across functions… Read More »Configuration Management is… Communication
#ConfigurationManagement is… #ChangeControl! #Change is the only constant. Changes are the vehicles for improvements. But without guardrails you will spin out of control. Where #Identification ensures you are able to identify and link all data artifacts, #ChangeManagement ensures you remain in control. Change control not only means you follow a process, at doing things first time right, it also means you ensure people focus on the changes that bring the… Read More »Configuration Management is… Change Control
#ConfigurationManagement is… #Accountability! Previous post was about #Ownership. Without ownership there is no accountability and accountability will lead to #Integrity of your configuration information. As mentioned by Ray Wozny from the Institute for Process Excellence: “I would say that accountability must exist with ownership. Accountability is not a negative word, it’s pride in our work, willingness to listen and respond when necessary.” I could not have said it any better.… Read More »Configuration Management is… Accountability
#ConfigurationManagement is… #Ownership! In my previous posts I focused on #Identification, Part Re-Identification, #ProductStructures, #Trust, and #Integrity of data. But you will not be able to achieve this without having proper Ownership of the data in place. Ownership is not that 10 high level managers need to sign off on a design. Ownership is about the #Creators and #Users of the data. A design or any other kind of dataset… Read More »Configuration Management is… Ownership
#ConfigurationManagement is…#Integrity In my previous post I already mentioned that having the right product structures is key to ensure integrity of the configuration information. The moment you loose integrity of your information, what is the value of that information? Garbage in is garbage out. Within #CM people drive to ensure that information integrity is not compromised. That means that Configuration Managers make the unpopular decision to do the right thing… Read More »Configuration Management is… Integrity
A CrowdStrike update on 19 July 2024 affecting about 8.5 million Windows computers caused a lot of people grief as they had to postpone their vacation travels or worse their medical treatments were postponed or they could not reach the emergency response services. The estimated cost of this incident for the Fortune 500 companies is 5.4 billion US$, which is more than a full year of revenue for CrowdStrike. Note that… Read More »The CrowdStrike wake-up call
My book The Essential Guide to Part Re-Identification has celebrated its first anniversary. I would like to thank everyone who bought a copy and for the amazing feedback. To celebrate the first anniversary I will share chapter 4 from the book which covers the Part Re-Identification Decision tree I propose. Don’t forget to get your own copy! Re-identification decisions always start with understanding the impact of a change. This is not always… Read More »Part Re-Identification: It is not about the Tree
On Wednesday 15 May I presented CM+AI: A Day in the Future Life of a Configuration Manager during the IpX International CM2 Congress. For those who missed it here is what I presented. Note that this presentation is also a tribute to Mike McKinney and Chrissy Sigrist for their contribution to the world of CM. What is AI? According Microsoft AI is: It’s the capability of a computer system to… Read More »CM+AI: A Day in the Future Life of a Configuration Manager
I recently listened to the IpX True North Podcast where Ray Wozny CEO and Ken Black VP of Education at the Institute for Process Excellence talked about their CM(2) journey, which I really enjoyed. This article will highlight some of the insights they shared. One in particular is the Enterprise Change assessment or what I call Impact Analysis, which Ken indicates is crucial for the successful processing of a change. A step that is often skipped or done poorly. An example… Read More »Embedding the Change: from Dynamic to Static