The Role of Software Configuration Management (SCM) in a Project 

Only when these conditions are met can Software Configuration Management become the backbone of a project by offering a secured, traceable framework.

Configuration management offers the following services:

• User recognition and access management
• Component archiving
• Management of component revisions and system versions
• Project management control through detailed reports
• Complete traceability thanks to regular logging of revisions and versions,
• Configuration coherence checks
• Constant, reproducible distribution of modules in source language for compilation; assembly and availability of corresponding documentation
  

The ARCAD Solution...

ARCAD-Skipper will put together the reports that are essential for effective project management, such as:

• History of modifications based on different criteria: Who did what? Where? When? How?
• Number of compilations per project, developer, or component
• Time spent in using source code editors
• Activity journal
• Report on differences between two versions
• And more!
  

ARCAD-Skipper also goes much further in schedule management.
Following analysis of a new modification request, the person responsible for analyzing the request enters a Maintenance Report to describe the results of the analysis and assigns the report to a developer. The application manager can then decide to either open a new version if the case is urgent, or to assign the report to a current version.
As a developer’s working folder, a Maintenance Report contains all relevant work tasking and scheduling information (earliest and latest dates). Developers now always know which files have been assigned to them and what their deadlines are. Once the work is completed, developers can enter the actual dates and the number of hours needed.

Combining with a Project Manager
All the planning information in the Maintenance Reports can easily be exported to a project management product. Links can easily be established, as seen here:

Once the dependencies between tasks have been defined, the project manager can calculate the earliest and latest date requirements and enter this information in the Report. The addition of real dates allows automatic project updating, and highlights possible slipups in the projects.
Concrete examples have been developed using Microsoft Project, but ARCAD-Skipper can interface with any project management tool on the market.