Software Configuration Management Risk Analysis before Relocating the Porting of Product’s Family

In a real life example selected from a number of experiences that HERMES SoftLab has had, we show what major challenges software development companies face when establishing a virtual enterprise due to the need to relocate part of the porting of product’s family. The analyses of what we have experienced to be the major Software Configuration Management (SCM) related risks are given, why sometimes such efforts fail, and what the key factors are to success with guidelines for addressing such SCM risks. We point out major problems that often arise but also advantages of doing business this way. We show that a late transition from one to more dislocated sites brings additional challenges when not planned correctly from the beginning. In this we assume the usage of a modern configuration management tool.