Configuration Management is the key to documenting, controlling, and managing complex software projects. Eagle Ray's approach to configuration management incorporates practices from ITIL, CMMI, and ISO 20000. The components break out into three fundamental categories:

1. Identify all elements
   
   
   • Recognize the configurations and relationships between key hardware, software, and network components in your IT environment
   • Develop a Service Model to illustrate the impact any component has on other business services, other IT components, applications, or people
2. Respond to changes, updates, requests
   
   
   • Manage the life of a change request through the stages of assignment, planning, execution, and verification through an integrated set of automated systems to reduce errors and improve response times
   • Manage application, OS, and patch updates/installations for clients (desktops/mobile devices) and servers
   • Ensure timely response times to better meet business expectations
     
     
3. Control the process

• Audit status on regular basis to check integrity of data in CMDB
• Eliminate unauthorized changes through automated change management and approvals
• Reduce lease penalties and costs by tracking due dates and return configurations, and consolidate lease agreements by gaining enterprise-wide visibility across contracts
• Lower purchase costs and reduce unauthorized configurations by enforcing volume-discounted contracts with preferred suppliers for approved configurations
• Actively prevent shifts from approved configurations by providing policy-based, proactive management