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#1437 Refresh of Porting/Software Configuration (PORT) change request accepted

Update of PORT to: (1) change the name to Software Configuration (2) provide clarity that the skills is for the design and deployment of configurations not for operational configuration (which should be covered in the relevant operations skill, e.g. ITOP, ASUP, NTAS, etc)

Current challenges:

  • The term 'porting' is rarely used and not well recognised.
  • Many in infrastructure/support roles are using this skill as a complement to their operational skill because they "do some configuration" ... the current definition of PORT (and several of the more operational skills like ITOP/ASUP/NTAS and others) leaves room for this unnecessary overlap.
  • SFIA7 definition has huge overlap with testing activities that are better left in the Testing (TEST) skill. In addition the level 4 definition reads more like an expert giving advice (i.e. Specialist Advice (TECH).
  • There is still a clear need for the design and deployment of software configuration, particularly for (not exclusively) enterprise scale systems and large SaaS.
  • The potential to use this skills for the design and deployment of software configuration in other "as a service" environment (e.g. Iaas, PaaS, etc) remains. With other changes proposed to these skills this skill could be thought of as a specialism in software configuration where some of the operational skills would naturally include some level of operational configuration. The effort, focus, and expertise being the differentiator in deciding in say a cloud engineer would need to include this skill along with say ITOP, DESN, and other skills.

The proposed draft below is deliberately close to the PROG skills which also combines elements of design, test, deploy, iterate.

Proposed name/descriptions below with guidance notes:

Software configuration PORT

Designing and deploying software product configurations into new or existing software environments/platforms.

Guidance notes

This skill is typically applied to the design and deployment of configurations of large/complex (often enterprise scale) software. This includes – but is not limited to -  with such enterprise resource planning (ERP)), customer relationship management, mainframes, large software as a service (SaaS) solutions, integration suites, and the management tools provided by infrastructure as a service (IaaS) platform as a service (PaaS) providers.

Activities may include – but not limited to…

  • porting of software configuration across different environments/platforms
  • refactoring of complex or overlapping configurations across different modules and capabilities within software solutions

Software configuration: Level 6

Develops organisational policies, standards, and guidelines for software configuration design, deployment and refactoring. Plans and leads software configuration and deployment activities for strategic, large and complex deployment projects. Develops new methods and organisational capabilities and drives adoption of, and adherence to policies and standards.

Software configuration: Level 5

Takes technical responsibility across all stages and iterations of configuration development and deployment. Plans and drives software construction activities. Adopts and adapts appropriate configuration development methods, tools and techniques selecting appropriately from predictive (plan-driven) approaches or adaptive (iterative/agile) approaches. Measures and monitors the application of standards for configuration design and deployment including software security. Contributes to the development of organisational policies, standards, and guidelines for software configuration design and deployment.

Software configuration: Level 4

Designs, verifies, documents, amends and refactors complex software configurations for deployment. Contributes to selection of development approach for projects, selecting appropriately from predictive (plan-driven) approaches or adaptive (iterative/agile) approaches. Applies agreed standards and tools, to achieve well-engineered outcomes. Participates in reviews of own work and leads reviews of colleagues' work.

Software configuration: Level 3

Assists in the designs, verification, documentation, amends and refactors moderately complex software configurations for deployment. Applies agreed standards and tools, to achieve a well-engineered result. Collaborates in reviews of work with others as appropriate.

 

Current status of this request: accepted

What we decided

The proposed changes will update the context and description of this skill to be more relevant to current practices.

What we changed

Skill description and skill levels updated.