A Guide to Configuration Management for Intelligent Transportation Systems

Overview

This monograph is one of a series intended to introduce the topic of systems engineering to managers and staff working on transportation systems projects, with particular emphasis on Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) projects. Systems engineering is a discipline that has been used for over 50 years and has its roots in the building of large, complex systems for the Department of Defense. Systems engineering is an approach to building systems that enhances the quality of the end result and the expectation is that its application to transportation systems projects will make those projects more effective in developing and implementing the systems they are intended to build. Although applying systems engineering techniques on a project doesn’t guarantee success, not following a systems engineering approach is a strong recipe for failure. This monograph covers the topic of Configuration Management. Configuration Management (CM) formalizes the process of making changes to a system under development so that the system’s builders maintain an appropriate configuration record and can always ensure that they know what the correct version of the system consists of. It is intended to establish and maintain the consistency of a system’s performance, functional, and physical attributes with its requirements, design, and operational information throughout the system’s life and is considered a “best practice” within the system engineering discipline. Managing changes to requirements is essential to minimizing cost and schedule overruns on transportation system projects. CM’s ability to control changes to requirements is a major reason for employing it on ITS projects.