CMP (Configuration Management Plan)

CMP stands for Configuration Management Plan. In Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) policy, it is the plan that delineates the policies, procedures and responsible agencies for configuration management of all aspects of a configuration item throughout its service life. The abbreviation is used in DAOD 3034-0, Configuration Management for Defence Systems.

Configuration management controls and documents a system's approved configuration. That includes its configuration items, technical data, changes, status accounting and verification across the life cycle. The CMP is the document that says how that work will be done and who is responsible for it.

What DND's policy says a CMP covers

The DND definition has three parts. The CMP lays out the policies that govern configuration management, the procedures used to carry it out, and the agencies responsible for each part. It applies to all aspects of a configuration item and to its entire service life, not only to the period when it is being built or delivered.

DND policy also requires the organization to decide whether the Crown needs a defence system's technical data for configuration-management purposes, and to designate configuration items. The CMP sits alongside those decisions as the working plan for managing what has been designated.

When a CMP is established and how long it applies

• DND and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) must establish a CMP during the definition phase of acquiring a defence system.
• The CMP must then be enforced through each later life-cycle stage, including disposal.

This timing matters. The plan is set early, before a system is built or bought, and it stays in force until the system is disposed of. Both points are set out in DAOD 3034-0.

The standards behind the Canadian policy

DND ratified NATO STANAG 4427, Configuration Management in System Life Cycle Management, and its policy aligns DND and the CAF with that standard. The policy also identifies EIA-649-B, Configuration Management Standard, as describing the configuration-management process across a defence system's life cycle. Both are referenced in the DND policy. A CMP written for a Canadian defence project therefore sits within an allied, standards-based approach rather than a purely domestic one.

Project plans and deliverable plans in allied practice

The UK Ministry of Defence offers a useful comparison. Its regulations for air systems use a Configuration Management Plan to define how configuration-management requirements will be managed throughout the life cycle of an item, including its parts, equipment and documentation (RA 5301). UK policy also distinguishes between a project configuration-management plan and a deliverable configuration-management plan. The deliverable plan is prepared under contract in accordance with Defence Standard 05-057 (JSP 945 Part 1).

That split shows how a CMP can exist on two levels: the buyer's plan for managing the system, and the supplier's plan delivered under the contract.

What a CMP means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

The clearest Canadian use of the CMP is in DND and CAF defence-system acquisition and life-cycle support. In a procurement, a supplier may be required by the statement of work or contract to prepare, maintain and comply with a CMP covering the contracted system or product.

• Read the statement of work and any technical data requirements for CMP language before you price.
• Plan for a CMP that covers the full service life of the item, through to disposal.
• Be ready to show familiarity with NATO STANAG 4427 and EIA-649-B, the standards behind DND's policy.
• Identify who in your organization will hold the responsibilities the plan assigns.