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  Configuration Management in Practice

A One-Day Seminar From Datamation

09:30

Registration and coffee

10:00

Welcome and introduction

Why you can’t afford not to apply Configuration Management methodology, by Dr Kais Al-Timimi, Datamation

Examples of what can go wrong when companies fail to adopt CM methodologies.

10:15

Keynote: Managing the Configuration Lifecycle - More than just CM, by Callum Kidd, University of Manchester

As the modern enterprise focuses more on the benefits and value of lifecycle management, they must also redefine the role played by configuration management. All too often we find that the view of traditional CM is defined as change management, or at worst, change administration. This neither supports nor adds value to the modern way of doing business, and as such, CM is perceived by many as failing to deliver.

This presentation describes how some of the worlds leading companies are changing the way they view CM and adding value to the lifecycle management process.

11:00

Coffee break

11:30

Farnborough (24th November)
Implementing Configuration Management (CM) Best Practice at Tube Lines, Mick Thorpe

Under the 30-year PPP Service Contract, Tube Lines are responsible for the maintenance, renewal and upgrade of the underground infrastructure, including track, trains, signals and stations.  

Reversing the effects of decades of under-investment in the tube is a huge task requiring an injection of resources on the scale of which the Underground has never seen before. Tube Lines is involved in a massive improvement programme, tripling investment and committing over £4,400 million over the next 7.5 years. This task is made more challenging by the fact that a significant part of the network is over 50 years old with related systems and records that may be inaccurate, not up to date or not available.

To address these problems Tubelines is putting in place an IT infrastructure to maintain accurate and up to date asset register that will form an information backbone to support future maintenance and project work. This presentation will outline the scale and complexity of the problem and what Tubelines is doing to build and maintain sets of information that can remain clear, concise and valid.

Wolverhampton (25th November)
The Business Drivers for Configuration Management in Royal Mail", by Peter Johnson, Royal Mail

Royal Mail faces an increasingly competitive commercial environment. In order to compete in a deregulated and shrinking market, Royal Mail has to develop and introduce new value added products and reduce operating costs in order to maintain a competitive advantage.  In addition, the mail processing infrastructure within its mail handling facilities requires significant investment and replacement. Faced with this challenge, the presentation will describe how Configuration Management is being deployed within the Royal Mail Engineering function in order to prioritise limited resources and ensure that the configuration status of its equipment is known. The presentation will deal with some of the issues currently being faced in deployment and how they are being managed.

12:00

Putting management back into CM, by Callum Kidd, University of Manchester

If we are to make the developments necessary for CM to truly add value to the business, then we need to enhance the role of the configuration managers themselves. This presentation shows how two leading UK companies have developed professional development programmes that are designed to develop critical thinking, effective decision makers, within the CM process.

12:30

Lunch

Attendees of the Farnborough day will have the opportunity to visit the Farnborough Air Sciences Trust (FAST) Museum located at Trenchard House. The museum contains numerous historic exhibits including a 'Whittle engine' and a TSR2 ejection seat. Outside the building, there is a collection of aircraft and cockpit sections.

13:45

Applying Configuration Management Methodology, by Martin Schmermbeck, Auto-trol

Configuration Management methodologies are being adopted by an increasing number of companies in a wide range of sectors across the world. This presentation will outline the key elements in two different companies. Martin will explain the development of CM methods and share experiences in the usage of CM in software development. He will go on to describe a Configuration Management strategy and the benefits it has delivered to a large logistics company.

14:30

Demonstration showing a combination of hardware and software Configuration Management, by Martin Schmermbeck and Kevin Short, Auto-trol Technology

A demonstration of a scenario of system configuration management methodology and how it can work in practice. Modern Configuration Management must combine the management and traceability of both hardware and software projects in a single solution. The presentation shows a possible solution for this requirement.

15:15

Free format Question and Answer session

15:45

Close