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| Case Study |
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Process Assessment for Software Configuration
Management
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A Global Precision Instruments Company consulted Patni to improve its Software
Configuration Management process for enabling global rollout of a service management
application and instituting a compliance framework in line with ITIL best practices.
The Client
Headquartered in Switzerland,
the client is a global provider of
precision instruments and
services. Supported by an
employee base of more than
10,000 worldwide, it has
operations in over 100 countries
with a Fortune 1000 status in the
US.
The Challenge
The client was in the process of implementing a service management
application for all its locations across the globe. The implementation
was to be coordinated from a central location in Switzerland. This
required tailoring the application, user acceptance testing and
maintenance of production code for each region. The company
wanted to scale up its existing software configuration management
(SCM) process to suit a multi-region & multi-version environment,
which could be later tailored for other applications. Further, the
client wanted these processes to be defined by basing them on ITIL
best practices, as this would help in ITIL implementation at a later
stage. The prominent areas of improvement identified were Change
& Release Management processes.
The Solution
Patni worked closely with the client to provide solution for a comprehensive SCM
process that could be used for the global rollout of the service management
application. The objective was to put in place a process oriented approach that
could help the organization in rolling out multi-region and multi-version
implementations with region specific maintenance updates.
For assessing the existing processes at an organization and project level, Patni
conducted an initial document review followed by interviews and discussions with
all the key stakeholders. Inputs taken from the senior management, core team,
practitioners, application vendors and application customization teams were
used to understand the defined processes and evaluate the degree of deployment
of configuration management processes.
Based on the analysis of the findings of the assessment exercise,
configuration management process initiatives were prioritized,
and recommendations for version control and change
management, were presented to the client's senior
management. In addition, workflows for change management in
various scenarios (application enhancement, hardware
change), Configuration Item lifecycle, and Configuration
Management (CM) repository structure, along with
recommendations for CM repository tool were prepared. Patni
also recommended usage of an ITIL-compliant tool for
implementing processes that could reduce implementation
time & cost, increase re-usability, and assist in ITIL
implementation.
The Benefits
By recommending high-level process flow for Change Management
and Repository Architecture, Patni assisted the client in:
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Defining standardized Configuration & Change Management
processes that could be subsequently used for other
applications in a multi-site and multi-version environment |
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Enabling faster development and deployment of applications
and other processes across locations |
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Institutionalizing a compliance framework according to ITIL
standards. |
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