How to Answer: How would you define software configuration management?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Microsoft job interview.
2. How would you define software configuration management?
How to Answer
In simple terms, software configuration management systematically manages, tracks, and controls changes that happen in the software development lifecycle. This includes changes in the code, documentation, and process. Change control, however unpopular, is a function that ensures all changes made to the software system are consistent with Microsoft development practices and internal methodologies. The ultimate goal is to see productivity improvement with a minimal amount of mistakes throughout the development lifecycle. Here, the interviewer is looking for how you prioritize configuration management duties and responsibilities and your experience controlling something even if you don't know what it is. This can be tricky, so let me explain. Configuration management is used if multiple team members are working on a software or revision running on multiple machines or needs constant updating. Another reason is if a company has multiple locations or divisions that need to distribute work concurrently.
Answer Example
"My definition of software configuration management is a set of activities that identify a number of items including source code modules, test cases, requirements specification documents, tools used, objects, files, and CSCI in SCM repositories, to name a few. There are also other important activities that I coincide with these actions as well. I look at a baseline, which lets me know the accepted version of a software configuration item. The second is change control, which is a method that ensures quality and consistency when changes are made. Third on this list is configuration audits, which verify that the software meets the minimum baseline needs, and the deliverable is being met."
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