cm & alm

CM & ALM
Configuration Management and ALM Stories

Steve Berczuk explains that developers are most interested in whether or not an SCM tool is capable of branching, thus allowing more than one related stream of code to evolve in parallel. However, minimizing branching may be the best approach for agile teams.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) trading system recently was shut down for part of a day due to a software glitch. Some inside the CBOE are looking to recent configuration changes, requirements tracking, and testing as possible culprits.

Deciding on a vendor for your CM tool can be fun or gut wrenching. The decision you make will affect how you control files, interact with other tools, and will touch every aspect of you daily work. Joe Townsend lists six questions you should ask before selecting a tool.

Joe Farah investigates whether or not software configuration management (SCM) follows the core principles of CM. The big difference in software shops and hardware shops is the level of automation in which the tools are responsible for ensuring the core processes reach “done.”

With the popularity of DevOps continuing to grow in the software industry, we’re seeing more and more news in the tech media about companies adopting the methodology. This week adds to that trend with some big corporate acquisitions.

Joe Farah writes about the importance of software configuration (SCM) metrics. Software metrics help us build better software, and SCM metrics help us to better manage the built software. The metrics give you a better handle on what is really going on in your product development environment.

Joe Farah explores whether or not open source software configuration management (SCM) tools are causing SCM to regress. CM professionals need to do a better job of looking at what’s out there in the market before jumping ship to an open source solution.

If you’re a follower of the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), the configuration management database (CMDB) is a central point of your efforts. Joe Townsend gives us a handy roundup of the tools on the market that are available to help you control your IT environment.

Joe Townsend explores whether or not Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) can coexist with agile. Remember that the Agile Manifesto specifically addresses processes, and the CMMi is, without a doubt, centered on process and documentation.