Configuration Management

This item is free to Āpōpō members through our partnership with IAM.

Version 2.1, August 2019

Configuration Management (CM) is about knowing what you’ve got, how it’s configured, and what changes are being made – so you can manage your assets with confidence. That clarity matters. Whether we’re talking about a road, a pump station, or a networked smart sensor, assets don’t exist in isolation. They are part of systems, rely on other components, and often evolve over time.

This document explores configuration management through practical examples and asks: What matters, to whom, and why? A car designer and a fleet owner both work with the same core assets – but their configuration needs, responsibilities, and information requirements are vastly different. That same distinction applies to infrastructure owners, maintainers, suppliers, and operators.

Configuration management helps clarify who’s responsible for what, which configurations are worth tracking, and how changes are recorded and communicated. It can range from detailed records of embedded firmware versions in smart devices, to high-level control over the way critical components are combined and deployed. It supports lifecycle decisions, risk management, regulatory compliance, and increasingly, cybersecurity and digital asset strategies.

While much of this guide focuses on physical assets, the principles apply equally to software, data models, and system integrations. With increasing digitisation, configuration management is no longer a niche technical function – it’s a foundational discipline for modern asset management.