Explain how configuration management keeps the records of configuration items accurate, so they can be relied on when handling changes and failures.
Tell change management, which decides whether a change goes ahead, from release and deployment management, which delivers approved changes to the live environment.
Explain how service transition proceeds and how it relates to the service acceptance criteria used to decide whether a service may go into use.
Configuration management (構成管理) is the process of identifying the configuration items that make up a service, such as equipment, software and procedure manuals, and keeping their information accurate and up to date.
Field recorded
Example entry
Item name
Order-processing server No. 2
Version
Order application version 3.4
Location and owner
Data center 2, operations team B
Links to other items
Linked to the inventory database
A configuration item is each individual part of a service registered as something to be managed, with its version, location and links to other items recorded. These records are gathered in the configuration management database (CMDB) and serve as the reference when checking the impact of a change or tracing the cause of a failure.
AnalogyIt is like a library catalog. Only when it correctly shows which books sit on which shelf, and how many copies there are, can you plan replacements or repairs.
How to rememberThe Japanese name 構成管理 literally means "composition management": it writes down how the parts are put together. Configuration carries the same sense of an arrangement of parts.
Exam points
ExamThe process of keeping a complete picture of an organization's IT assets (IT資産) and continuing to manage them in a register or database is configuration management (構成管理).
ExamWhether the management of IT assets recorded by configuration management is working well can be measured by, for example, the number of software licenses (ソフトウェアライセンス) left unused.
Change management (変更管理) is the process that takes in change requests for a service, assesses their impact and risk, decides whether they may go ahead, and controls approved changes so they proceed as planned.
Receive the change request
Assess impact and risk
Decide to approve or reject
Plan the work and hand over
Plan the steps for the approved change and pass building and deployment to release and deployment management.
4 / 4
A change request (RFC) is a recorded proposal to modify a service, such as adding a feature, fixing a defect or revising a setting. Change management checks how far the impact reaches using configuration management's records before deciding, and also sets the priority of the work.
AnalogyIt is like a condo board reviewing renovation work. It takes a resident's request, looks at the effect on the whole building before giving permission, and then schedules the work.
How to rememberThe entry document, RFC, stands for Request for Change: the request every change starts from.
Exam points
ExamAssessing a change's impact on the service before it is carried out is part of change management (変更管理).
ExamChange management does not end at approval: it arranges when and in what order each approved change is carried out, and manages the work so it proceeds as arranged.
Release and deployment management (リリース及び展開管理) is the process that bundles changes approved by change management into a release, builds and tests it, and then deploys it to the live environment.
Plan the release
Build and test
Deploy to production
Check after deployment
Confirm it runs without problems in production and record the results.
4 / 4
A release is a bundle of changes packaged together and sent to production, and can include a new software version or equipment being added. Deployment means actually distributing that release to the environment where it is used and putting it into operation. A patch file that fixes a defect is one example of a change that goes into a release.
AnalogyIt is like a moving company. It packs and carries your things, sets up the furniture in the new home so it is ready to use, and arranges in advance how to take items back if they cannot be moved in.
How to rememberRelease means "letting go," and deployment means "spreading out." Picture it as two verbs: let go of what you finished in-house, then spread it out to where the users are.
Exam points
ExamPutting approved changes into the live environment is the role of release and deployment management (リリース及び展開管理).
ExamNot only software: installing added equipment into the production system and starting to use it also falls within release and deployment management.
ExamWhen planning a release (リリース), you anticipate the case where the work does not finish on schedule and decide beforehand how to respond.
Service transition (サービスの移行) is the planning and carrying out of moving a new or changed service from the development or test environment into live operation.
Plan the transition
Acceptance decision
Go live and start operation
Put the service that meets the criteria into production and hand it over to the operations staff.
3 / 3
What gets moved includes not just software and equipment but also operating procedures, the staffing of those in charge, and guidance for users. Once the service is in production, responsibility passes from the development side to the operations staff, and day-to-day operation begins.
Exam points
ExamSoftware installation (ソフトウェア導入) is the stage of deciding the steps of the work and then putting the finished software into the live environment so that it runs. In the transition flow, it corresponds to the step of putting things into production.
Mix-upRelease and deployment management (リリース及び展開管理) delivers individual releases to production, whereas service transition (サービスの移行) covers the whole of planning and carrying out the move of a new or changed service into live operation.
Service acceptance criteria (サービス受入れ基準) are the pass conditions set in advance to judge whether a new or changed service may start being used in production.
Typical items ask whether the required performance is met, whether testing is finished, and whether the operating procedures are in place with staff ready to handle the service. The criteria are agreed with stakeholders at the planning stage, not just before the transition.
AnalogyIt is like the passing score on a driving test. Because the scoring standard is fixed beforehand, anyone looking at the result reaches the same pass-or-fail decision.
Service Transition vs. Service Acceptance Criteria
Aspect
Service Transition
Service Acceptance Criteria
Key differenceNature
Planning and carrying out the move into live operation (an activity)
Pass conditions for deciding whether use may begin (a yardstick)
Key points
Configuration management keeps records of configuration items and IT assets current, giving other processes a foundation for their decisions.
Change management assesses the impact of change requests, decides whether they go ahead, and manages the steps and progress of approved changes.
Release and deployment management builds and tests approved changes, prepares a way to roll back, and then deploys them to production.
Service transition is the activity of putting a new or changed service into live operation, and whether it may go into use is judged against the service acceptance criteria agreed in advance.