What is configuration management?
Configuration Management (CM) is a management approach used to identify the functional and physical characteristics of an item in the early phases of its life cycle, capture changes against that item, and maintain the status of that item.
CM is base-line management versus attempting to provide a support infrastructure for many different and constantly changing baselines which can be very costly.
One main subset of CM is CSA, which is the process of capturing, storing, and verifying configuration information for a given platform. CSA equipment records are comprised of Configuration Items (CI) that are often defined as any hardware, software, or combination of both (firmware), which integrates the maintenance philosophy of a given platform.
Most CIs are the Lowest Repairable Units (LRU) identified through the maintenance and provisioning analysis process.
CHAND developed an internal software tool, Material and Technical Requirements Information – Cross Disciplines (MATRI-X), which enforces referential integrity, flags, and cascades product changes, and ultimately provides a data repository for Life Cycle Support.
MATRI-X hosts a wide array of data for all configuration items and logistics products. MATRI-X supports many common Military Standards to include but is not limited to, MIL-STD-1388-2B, GEIA-STD-0007-A, GEIA-HB-0007-A, GEIA-STD-0009, MIL-HDBK-61A, EIA-649, Tech Spec 9090-700D, MIL-STD-3034A, & MIL-P-24534A.
