Software Configuration Management

Software configuration management (SCM) is the discipline of identifying, recording, and controlling changes to the items that make up a software product across its lifecycle. It is not version control: version control is one tool used for one SCM activity. SCM spans planning, identification, change control, status accounting, auditing, and release management.

The dominant failure mode in SCM is not tool misuse — it is the absence of a conscious identification decision about what is under control, and why. Without explicit CI identification, changes are tracked inconsistently, baselines are unreliable, and audits find gaps that cost far more to recover from than prevention would have.

Philosophy