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I wanted to update you on what I decided to do. Since this is a project where we purchased software and the mandate is to use it out of the box as much as possible, the documentation is slightly different than normal. In this case, configuration means that we add our own information like drop-down lists, add industry standards, make some requests for enhancements, try to fit the software into how our engineers do projects, and change processes where necessary.
So, with all of that in mind and considering that things change, I decided to add the bulleted information below to the document as well as an overview of change management. People need to know how to make changes to our configured environment and we need an historical (hysterical?) record of what was configured. Executive decision by a decidedly non-executive person.
The company I work for is going through a huge software change. After much noise-making, the tech writers are involved in all training, requirements gather, and configuration sessions. For various reasons, we are not sure what kind of we will create. One thing we do know is the project manager absolutely needs configuration guides because there is some customization required. Installation guides are separate so this is only configuration.
The following list is what I think should go into the guide, not including scope and stuff like that.
* Description of configured item.
* Affected databases.
* How to configure the item. (Even if it is in an Admin module?)
* List of configured data or link to a document if the list is long.
Should configuration change management be included?
What am I leaving out of this document?
Ginger Stuckey
Technical Writer - Design
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