BPCS shop using Change Management Tool

      Regarding BPCS/Asset change management tools.   I was recently given the
task of implementing change management for our BPCS/Asset/RPG shop.  Our staff
consists of 10 programmers supporting 13 BPCS environments which translates to
13 application sets and RPG libraries to manage custom software for each site.

        We chose Aldon's CMS as our source management product.  It is relatively
easy to implement and easy to use.  CMS interfaces with a tool called RSF which
manages object distribution to remote machines which we rely on heavily since
our program objects are spread across 3 AS400's.

       Another facility we use is ADOM (Action Diagram Object Manager).  This
facility enforces policies to  'Check-Out' Asset programs for modification by
copying the production action diagram from a production application set to a
development application set.  Once the programmer has completed making changes
and has performed unit testing, he/she would 'Promote' the  action diagram to a
Q/A application set.  The program objects would be moved  to a Q/A library as
well.  The CMS/ADOM interface  'moves' the action diagram out of development and
into a Q/A application set.  Object are also moved to a library designated as a
Q/A library where it becomes accessible for user testing.   Once the user has
approved the change, the programmer performs a second 'Promote' to 'move' the
diagram and objects back into production, overlaying any existing components
currently in production.

The benefits of implementing CMS are as follows:

   Visibility to view any/all program objects using user controlled filters
   Visibility to what is currently being worked on
   Visibility to who is performing the work
   Lends itself to a programmer 'change' methodology
   Program components (source and objects) are no longer accidentally left in
   TEST sets / libraries
   The CMS archive function allows previous versions to be recalled from a menu
   Performs project management tasks if deemed necessary


Tim Keys
Sr. P/A
Dentsply International
York,  Pa

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