integration of configuration management into the it curriculum
The discipline of information technology deals with the selection, creation, application, integration and administration of computing technologies. With the prevailing adoption of information technology, growing sophistication and complexity of today's technology solutions, and increased security threats to the existing systems, it becomes more and more challenging to maintain and support IT operations with the highest availability possible. One of the important and useful practices is to design and implement the appropriate configuration management strategies in the operations, administration and development of IT applications and systems. Configuration management (CM) is a discipline of technical management that ensures the consistency of a product's performance, its quality, functional and physical attributes with its intended requirements, design, and operational information throughout its life. The practice of configuration management applies to every aspect of information technology, ranging from application development, to operating system setup, and to security management. Despite its importance, many practitioners, especially those fresh out of college, consider configuration management as an after-thought. Among all the computing related disciplines defined by ACM Computing Curricula, software engineering is the only one that offers configuration management in its curriculum but with a limited scope. In developing our new IT curriculum based upon the IT Curriculum 2005, we integrated configuration management into our curriculum by developing a course titled "Application Configuration and Management". In the course, students are exposed to various configuration management standards, best practices, techniques, and tools. A series of laboratory exercises were also developed to enhance students' understanding and learning of what is actually involved in the practice of configuration management.
configuration management it curriculum development