What the hell is SCM?

At first, I didn't really know what it was or anything about it, but with some google-fu and midnight reading I will share with you my findings about SCM.

SCM stands for Software Configuration Management, sometimes called Software Control Management, it is a framework for organizations to manage software and its changes, updates, errors, versions, tests, and code; all of this in a clean and organized manner.

SCM is the process that defines how to control and manage change.

It is needed with software that involves large organizations and a lot of programmers, it defines who is allowed to make changes, how they make them, and when they can. Software configuration management benefits all the stakeholders in a software project, making their jobs easier. Among the beneficiaries are: developers, testers, support, management, and investors.

Source

SCM consists of four Configuration stages:

1. Identification
• Made up of configurable items (CI), that is, the programs that make up the SW project.
• Baselines are contemplated, they are the status of the CIs at a given point, a version.
• A baseline must have a complete documentation that includes the capabilities of the software, bugs and testing, and a unique footprint.
• On each baseline, the CIs are at an specific version-controlled stage.
2. Control
• Implementing the approved changes to the CIs.
• Process to get to a new baseline.
3. Status Accounting
• Tracking the changes made from the old baseline to the new one.
• Describes the current version and how it came to be.
• The "what's new" section that you see when updating an app in your cell phone, only more detailed.
4. Authentication
• Making sure that the previous processes are complete and correct.
• Testing the software.
• If the tests are passed, then comes the release.

Source

I think, on the grand scale, that's about it. SCM seems like a good way to manage a project, and, if applied correctly, a tool that enables good software to get to the hands of people and businesses, in order to make the world better.

Sources:
https://www.techopedia.com/definition/24583/software-configuration-management-scm
http://ibiblio.org/gferg/ldp/SCM-OpenSource/index.html