Preface

This Project Management Institute (PMI) Practice Standard on Project Configuration Management (PSPCM) adds to PMI’s continuing commitment to support the project management profession with a defined body of knowledge and standards.

PMI’s A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (Third Edition) (PMBOK® Guide) documents some of the overall project management body of knowledge. The PMBOK® Guide–Third Edition is approved as an American National Standard by the American National Standards Institute,¹ and is the leading international standard for project management. This document is an extension and elaboration of the sections of the PMBOK® Guide–Third Edition that defines the processes, techniques, and tools used in project configuration management (PCM).²

This standard is a guide and reference for the project manager, team and other stakeholders, for understanding PCM and applying it appropriately in a project. Effective project management requires consistent and repeatable processes and methodologies to manage the constraints of scope, time, cost, and quality and to ensure project success. The project management professional applies configuration management to actively guide the project’s direction and create a project infrastructure that enables successful completion. This standard acknowledges PCM as a supporting discipline to the project processes during the project lifecycle.

The PSPCM is organized into the following focus areas:

• Introduction. Provides the basis for the development of this standard and how it may be used by the project manager.
• Configuration Management and Planning. Introduces PCM concepts and their relationship to project management.
• Configuration Identification. Identifies project items that may be under control of PCM and provides guidance on identifying and structuring the information.
• Configuration Change Management. Provides guidelines in order to identify change within a project.
• Configuration Status Accounting and Metrics. Gives examples of the tools and techniques that can be employed to objectively measure progress and maturity of the items subject to PCM.
• Configuration Verification and Audits. Describes how independent scrutiny can assist a project team to confirm that the work done was the work intended.

¹The American National Standards Institute is a not-for-profit organization that provides standards development guidelines.

²Project Management Institute. 2004. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)–Third Edition. Newtown Square, PA.: Project Management Institute, p. 49.