CM Trends 2022: S.W.A.T.

Configuration Management Seminars, Workshops, And Training

"Process Leads" by Larry Gurule and Jeff Heisler, i-infusion Inc and CMPIC

Presentation Overview: Our CMPIC founder, Steve Easterbrook, coined the phrase “Process Leads, Technology follows; Where tools lead, fools follow.” Steve’s point was/is, if you don’t have your “process” act together, no tool will save the day. Fact is, it may make things worse. Without business process understanding and knowledge, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to not be gambling while attempting to achieve a desired outcome(s). This presentation will take you through the evolution of Process Lifecycle Modeling and Management (PLM2™) from origin, to where we are, to where we need to be in order to meet the demands of the future. In addition, the presentation will address the types of things that need to be planned for and provided, in order to achieve not just the desired outcome, but have demonstrable knowledge and insight. The knowledge and insight to enable demand flow planning capabilities and/or value stream mapping insight and oversight for lean implementation and sustainment. Finally, and most importantly, how by having context (i.e., an understanding of the product’s realization and sustainment processes, and its environment i.e., everything used in and resulting from the execution of the task(s)), appropriate CM can be planned for, orchestrated, and sustained, as well as deliver the value desired, on-time and on-budget.



Speaker Bio: Larry Gurule is the President of CMPIC LLC, lead instructor, and author of CMPIC’s course material. He has decades of experience in configuration management, including consulting, assessing, and teaching on the subject matter to a wide variety of organizations across the globe. Larry is an active member in the CM community and is Chairperson of the SAE G-33 committee.

Larry has decades of Configuration Management experience on hundreds of government and commercial projects including the DoD, tier 1 and sub tier aerospace/defense suppliers, electronic developers/manufactures, medical developers/manufactures, automotive developers/manufactures, and industrial equipment developers/manufactures, as well as numerous service/process industry technology implementations. He is an experienced consultant and CM instructor specializing in the methodical investigation, analysis, review and documentation of all or part of a business in terms of business functions and processes, the information used and the data on which the information is based. For use in process and knowledge driven environments, including acquisition, product development, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain, retail, distribution, and sustainment.

Larry has a BS/MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado, CMPIC Certification, CMSME, CMII Certification, CM Lead Assessor Certification, and CM Professional Certification. He is an active leader and member of American Society for Quality (ASQ) and SAE International. He has specialized training including Project Management, Configuration Management Professional Certification, Systems Engineering, Lean Six Sigma, Lean Enterprise, Lean Bill of Materials, Balanced Score Card and Activity Based Costing methodologies.



Speaker Bio: Jeff Heisler is retired USAF, and currently the software developer of Orpheus, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform designed to facilitate and enable Process Lifecycle Modeling and Management. He is also a CMPIC instructor for Course 8, Software Configuration Management and the Platform Manager for TikTok’s learning platform..

He has spent the last 20 years developing software for the PDM/CM industry, and 15 years before that writing software for DOD’s Logistics Agency.

Jeff is also an actor and joins his wife on stage regularly at their family owned Heisler Theater.

"Improving CM Control: PLM to ERP Systems" by M'Shairi Parks, Leonardo DRS

Presentation Overview: It is not only vitally important to have control in your PLM system and your ERP system, but just as important if they are integrated to work with each other. We have gone from manually entering into our ERP system with no PLM tool, to entering into both PLM and ERP, and now only entering into our PLM tool. This has allowed for us to cut back on human errors and improve quality and reduce costs. This has given us better CM controls and confidence in our information and products. It can be a process, but a process worth undertaking.



Speaker Bio: M’Shairi Parks is a 45 year old single mom to 15 year old twins. She works for Leonardo DRS Land Electronics in the heart of aerospace and defense technology-rich in Huntsville, AL. The Land Electronics line of business provides advanced components and systems to address critical gaps and needs in platform and network capabilities, as well as field and sustainment level diagnostic tools. She has been with the company for 24 years and has been in Configuration Management for 23 of those years. She is the CM manager for DLE over her team that covers 2 sites, one team in Huntsville, AL and one team in Melbourne, FL. She received her Configuration and Data Manager certification from NDIA first in 2017 and renewed in 2022 and her SME with CMPIC in 2019.

M’Shairi started in CM with minimal knowledge and was unsure if this was the career path she wanted to continue down. She started with just working ECP deliveries to the customer and managing DRS electronic drawing repository. M’Shairi was instrumental in taking DRS from paper ECP and drawing deliveries to electronic deliveries with the customer and setting up a filing system for the electronic and master repository. M’Shairi grew to like CM and was well received by her internal and external customers. As times and technology changed, M’Shairi was instrumental in reviewing PLM tools and making recommendations to upper level management for the future of DRS. The team decided to follow another DRS site and go with Empower, then called Omnify, now owned by Arena solutions. They have been on the system for over 10 years and M’Shairi has been instrumental in bringing other sites onto the platform. She is now considered a super user and the lead administrator and lead trainer for NIS. Every division is now on Empower and we have also integrated it with our ERP system Deltek Costpoint.

M’Shairi has grown to love her job in CM. She has seen CM become well respected in her division and her expertise called upon in many different areas. M’Shairi believes CM is important to every organization and works to make sure the importance of configuration management is understood by every department. We are not just “paper pushers”. What we do is vitally important to our company, our customer, and the end user our soldiers. Without proper controls in place there is no control or understanding of your configuration, proper parts and supplies being ordered, or production lines being correct. CM is definitely not for the faint. CM touches and works with every department in the company and should see the bigger picture and help satisfy every teams needs. I may do the same thing everyday, but everyday it comes to me differently.

"Lessons Learned Are Everywhere" by Joe Norton, CMPrep

Presentation Overview: If problems can pop up from anywhere, then lessons learned (and those yet to be learned) are everywhere, too. Find out how to learn from lessons from the past, present or planned activities, however they turned out. Knowing the Configuration Management process, its procedures, principles, and functions, is key to unraveling the most aggravating situations that cost us delays and missed opportunities. But only knowing the “right” way of doing something isn’t always the best way to finding the “wrong” way that causes or worsens problems. While we search for the cause and effects related to a deviation, we must learn to ask questions not as only CM professionals but from the point of view of “the hurried and the worried,” those who are apt to cut corners or worse—simply think that they know better. Understand how to expand the range of questions to ask and when to ask them, how to find and apply remedies, and turn the resulting outcomes into satisfactory dispositions.



Speaker Bio: Joseph Norton is a current member and past officer of the SAE International G-33 Configuration Management Committee. Presently, he is interested in introducing a wider vision of CM to the next generation of practitioners. He is a NDIA Certified Configuration and Data Manager, who is also trained as a Lean Six Sigma Greenbelt in Process Improvement.

The last 16 years of Mr. Norton’s career were spent in and around the Engineering Dept. of ALOFT AeroArchitects in Georgetown, Delaware. It was as their Configuration Management Engineer that he rewrote company and departmental procedures as he redesigned forms and created workflows for the company’s primary value streams. He improved interactions with the Quality Management System in his hired CM role and as an internal AS9100 Lead Auditor. He frequently fiddled with his company’s Product Data Management tool to ‘skim’ data while work was being performed to yield meaningful real-time metrics.

Prior to joining the Aerospace and Defense industry, Mr. Norton brought his awareness of CM to Signature Companies in Baltimore, Maryland by translating builder blueprints into parts lists for computer models and then verifying those models by measuring homes under construction. Additionally, he spent 6 years at the initial EPA Systems Development Center in Arlington, Virginia, first as a graphics artist training other project teams on CorelDRAW software and then as his project team’s Technical Editor and ad hoc software de-bugger at the SEI Level 3 facility.

Mr. Norton earned his way onto the Dean’s List while receiving his Bachelor of Science from Salisbury University in Salisbury, Maryland.

"European Configuration Management Standardization - Now and Future" by Matthias Zingler, European Space Agency

Presentation Overview: The CM matters in Europe are characterised by aiming at achievable minimum consensus on CM definitions and application. Fostered by organisations digital transformations however, a more pressing need is felt to achieve CM interoperability on procedural and tool level. This presentation will highlight some of those trends and meaning to the future, attempting to give some forecast of what is expected.



Speaker Bio: For the last 30 years, Matthias has served the space business and technology with the European Space Agency. He came to ESA completing the assignment as captain of the German Air Force at NATO. He helped to build ESA's key inventory to Earth Observation satellite products and then moved on to join the team responsible for the Columbus module. It was launched with the STS-122 and attached to the Space Station in February of 2008. It was the opportunity to move to another ESA flagship project: Galileo - Europe's vital satellite navigation system. Matthias drove the build up of a verification control organisation to match the thousands of system requirements. The next step was to shape and lead the Configuration Management team. In this task he also integrates responsibility as IT manager and member of ESA boards for ECSS standardisation. Following the CMPIC training and education path, Matthias became a CM Subject Matter Expert (CMSME).

"CM Strategies" by Lisa Fenwick, CMstat and CMPIC

Presentation Overview: If you’ve ever wondered if your organization is doing ‘enough CM’ or ‘good CM’ or if you already know that improvements are needed, this presentation is for you! Lisa will first discuss the 5 pillars of CM and what they really entail. Then strategies for implementing and improving CM processes across all of the pillars in a logical evolution of sophistication with the goal of achieving CM Paradise. The result will be some new ideas for moving CM forward no matter where your organization is in their CM journey.



Speaker Bio: Ms. Fenwick is the VP of Product Development for CMstat and an Adjunct Instructor for CMPIC teaching Course 7. She has over 25 years of experience with CM and Deliverables Management (DM) including both CMPIC and CMII certifications. Ms. Fenwick has achieved CMPIC Masters, SME and CM Assessor certifications. Her experience includes implementing CM and DM software products in commercial and government environments, Performing CM Assessments and Implementation Consultations, providing various levels of CM training and CM consulting. Ms. Fenwick enjoys participation in the SAE G-33 and IEEE 828 review committees.

"Customer Support and Incident Management or How I became an IT Firefighter" by Reginald Hughes, Department of Veterans Affairs

Presentation Overview: In this talk, Reggie will discuss the importance of customer support and incident management. He will then cover 5 scenarios that touch upon the 5 pillars of Configuration Management, and how these incidents could have possibly been avoided by following proper CM.



Speaker Bio: Reginald (Reggie) Hughes has 32 years of experience supporting Information systems in both the commercial and government sectors. Reggie is currently serving as an IT Specialist, Incident Manager for the Enterprise Command Operations for the Department of Veterans Administration. He has also worked as a Software Change Control Manager for the United States Military Entrance Processing Command (USMEPCOM) with a focus on ITIL’ s Continual Service Improvement. At USMEPCOM, he has also served as the IT Configuration Manager and as a Service Desk technician. Prior to USMEPCOM, Reggie worked for Homeland Security Solutions, Inc. and the Fleet Readiness Center Southwest in San Diego, California.

Reggie is also a 20-year veteran of the United States Navy. During his service in the USN, Reggie was responsible for managing sailors and the maintenance and upkeep of several Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) systems.

Mr. Hughes received his BS in Computer Information Systems, MA in Human Resource Management and MS in Management Information Systems from National University in San Diego, CA. He presently holds a Configuration Management Process Improvement Center (CMPIC) Subject Matter Expert and Master’s certification and several certifications in ITIL. He and his family currently reside in Jacksonville, FL.

"My Personal CM Journey" by Colten Marquardt, Cirrus Aircraft

Presentation Overview: In this presentation, Colten will go over his journey into CM. He will discuss how he first learned about CM, some of the lessons he has learned along the way, and where he is in his CM journey now.



Speaker Bio: Colten Marquardt is the Product Data Architect at Cirrus Aircraft. He has been in the general aviation industry for 14 years and holds a CM2-C certification. Colten has a focus on the more technical side of CM, including PLM administration, product / BOM structures, options and variants, and process automation.

"Utilizing CM Industry Standards for Maximum Government Benefit" by Leisa Lemaster, CM Training LML and CMPIC

Presentation Overview: This presentation will provide information on the relationship between the SAE Standards for Configuration Management; how to utilize EIA-649-1A to construct clear and concise requirements for tasking documents, Statement of Work, Performance Work Statements, etc; and, things to be considered when tailoring requirements.



Speaker Bio: Experienced configuration management (CM) subject matter expert (SME) with 40 years of experience in Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition development, production, and sustainment programs, possessing unique qualifications, insights and understanding of CM, data management and data digital transformation. Experienced in both US Air Force (USAF) and foreign military sales (FMS) programs to include F-16, F-15, Advanced Targeting Pod (ATP), Global Hawk, MQ-1 and MQ-9. Principal author of MIL-HDBK-61B, Configuration Management Guidance, and major contributor to the creation and maintenance of industry standards governing CM—providing up-to-date solutions to current CM challenges. Active instructor for SAE industry standards to include SAE-649C, Configuration Management, and SAE-649-1A, Configuration Management for DoD Contracts. NH-03, Department of the Air Force (DAF) (Retired).

"Successful Implementation of the SAE EIA-649C Standard" by Harald Schwabe, usb GmbH

Presentation Overview: Clearly separating "what needs to be done and why it needs to be done" from "how it needs to be done" to achieve beneficial separation of often intermingled process activities.

Empower the organization by establishing an overarching CM process that describes the overarching CM requirements for the entire organization.

Since every department performs CM activities (perhaps without even knowing it), the goal is to appropriately document and harmonize these activities with the overarching CM process. The decision was to create a separate work instruction for each CM discipline that applies to each department.



Speaker Bio: Harald Schwabe is a CM and PLM specialist for design and implementation processes and database applications. He consults with companies on the implementation and completion of CM processes. Mr. Schwabe has more than 30 years of experience in CM and PLM. Since 1994 he has been working for usb GmbH on various projects in the automotive, simulation and programs in the aerospace field, such as Typhoon and Tornado and various UAV's. He holds a certification in CMII and CMPIC CM Subject Matter Expert (CMSME).

"Configuration Management Process in DoD Projects" by Dr. Manessa Threatt, DoD

Presentation Overview: The perceived relevant facilitating factors to the success of the overall Configuration Management process in DoD projects.



Speaker Bio: Dr. Manessa Threatt possesses 15 years of configuration management experience exclusively supporting DoD projects. Dr. Threatt earned her Doctorate of Business Administration (D.B.A.) from the Florida Institute of Technology. She earned her Master of Science Management with an emphasis in Information Systems from the Florida Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Information Sciences with a minor in Business Management from the University of Alabama. She is also Project Management Professional (PMP) certified.

"One Size Does Not Fit All" by Bruce Littell, SensibleCM and CMPIC

Presentation Overview: Learn about CM Models, Enterprise CM, Acquirer & Supplier issues and the Future of CM!



Speaker Bio: Bruce is the owner of SensibleCM, LLC. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1971 through 1977 as a Poseidon Missile Technician and is qualified in submarines. Bruce retired from BAE Systems where he supported configuration management applications for the Navy strategic missile submarines, the Ballistic Missile Defense Office (now Missile Defense Agency), and the FAA National Airspace System, retiring during 2009. After BAE Systems he was recruited by the Navy Strategic Systems Programs (SSP) command as the Assistant for US and UK Programs which included serving as the Configuration Manager for the US and UK Strategic Weapon System program and other US and UK related issues under the Polaris Sales Agreement.

Bruce retired from civil service during March 2019. He joined CMPIC as an adjunct instructor shortly thereafter. Bruce is a member of several SAE International committees including the G33 (Configuration Management); Systems Engineering; LCLS (Lifecycle Logistics Support); Enterprise Information and Data Management (EIDM); Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) P828 IPT; American Society for Quality (ASQ); and National Defense Industries Association (NDIA).

"Security-Focused CM of Federal Information Systems" by Dick Cashman, Cashman Training Services and CMPIC

Presentation Overview:Since the release of the “E-Government Act” of 2002, providing for rigorous security of federal information and information systems is not just a good idea, it’s the law. The Secretary of Commerce has made compulsory for all federal agencies and their contractors several requirements and guidance documents published by the National Institute of StandardS and Technology (NIST) Information Technology Laboratory (ITL). These numerous and ever-changing publications can be confusing to the uninitiated. And it doesn’t help that in many cases, their use of Configuration Management terms are very different than those found in most CM standards.



Speaker Bio: Dick Cashman is President of Cashman Training Services, LLC, specializing in training and consulting on Configuration Management and business efficiency processes. He is also currently an associate instructor with CMPIC with 28 years of configuration management experience.

Dick served for 23 years in the US Air Force as a Navigator in F-111 fighter/bombers with most of that time spent as an instructor providing technical training to aircrew. For the last nine years in the Air Force and for 19 years as a direct-support contractor to the Air Force, he performed Configuration Management and Requirements Management for IT-based command and control systems.

He received his certification in CMII from ICM and his Masters Certificate and certification as a Configuration Management Subject Matter Expert (CMSME) from CMPIC. He graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and from Boston University with a Master of Science degree in Business Administration.

"Cyber Physical Security Systems and CM" by Kirsten M. Koepsel, Aerocyonics, Inc

Presentation Overview: An overview of cyber physical security systems and configuration management in light of the recently published SAE Cyber-Physical Systems Security Engineering Plan (CPSSEP) JA7496 (June 2022). We look at some of the specific definitions within JA7496 such as assurance, assurance case and configuration management. CPSS’ rely upon microelectronics that have a complex/distributed supply chain. The presentation also includes a look at the cyber physical security “V” and risk mitigation as well as provenance, traceability, perigee and non-repudiation as well as “as built” configuration and “where built” configuration.



Speaker Bio: Since 2012 Kirsten M. Koepsel has been working in the area of cybersecurity and policy including authoring several SAE books on commercial aviation and associated supply chains and cybersecurity, editing annually a chapter for a data security and privacy law book as well as participating on the SAE G-32 Committee that is writing standards for cyber physical systems security, and hardware and software assurance.

Her background also includes a Washington, DC aerospace trade association in Washington, DC where she monitored issues, policies, and regulations. She has also worked for the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Program (NIST MEP) at the University of Texas at Arlington. In addition she worked for ten plus years in the defense industry where she focused on aircraft manufacturing, engineering, production and quality control support for the F-16, research, manufacturing assistance, and the National Aerospace Plane (NASP). Ms. Koepsel received her LLM and JD from the Franklin Pierce Law Center (now the University New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law). She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Tennessee and Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Microbiology and Grain Science from Kansas State University.

"PIRATEs of the Software Supply Chain: How To Operationalize the True Value of SBOMs" by Alex Borhani and Jeremy Vaughan, Tauruseer Inc

Presentation Overview: PIRATE is an acronym that aligns threat modeling with strategic business objectives and transforms mindsets from project to product thinking by mapping controls from software delivery pipelines around risk remediation as a business enabler. PIRATE stands for Product Integrated Risk Analytics & Threat Evaluation.



Speaker Bio: Alex Borhani and Jeremy Vaughan, founders of Tauruseer, will discuss how to gain a deep understanding and actionable insight of your ever-changing attack surface with PIRATE that helps improve organizational culture and software supply chain security. They will review the critical challenges in addressing software supply chain risks and how to overcome them with SBOMs. This framework aligns with the vital expectations outlined in Executive Order (EO) 14028 – “Improving the Nation’s Cybersecurity” and is created not only to achieve regulatory compliance but rather to provide more value from your application security program for both software providers and consumers.

"CM - State of the Art and What the DevOps Guys Forgot" by Bob Aiello, Aiello Consulting

Presentation Overview: DevOps took off in 2009 with the perceptive observation that developers and operations engineers often approach their roles with contrasting perspectives. The DevOps evangelists focus on continuous integration, delivery and deployment extended many of the configuration management best practices that in CM we called automated build, package and deployment. CM developed many of the seminal practices that the DevOps gurus focused on and enhanced. Successful change agents need to understand traditional CM, the best practices that led to DevOps along with emerging best practices including the current focus on supply chain and the SBOM. Join us for this talk if you want to be successful in implementing modern configuration management best practices.



Speaker Bio: Bob Aiello is a hands-on CM/ALM & DevOps architect, trainer, author, and coach with experience in implementing automated systems and applications build, package and deployment automated pipelines. Bob envisioned the need for and led the effort to create the IEEE 2675-2021 DevOps standard and was subsequently awarded the IEEE SA Standards Medallion “for sustained leadership in practical, advanced standards for DevOps and Configuration Management”. Bob has written several books including one on CM Best Practices. Bob has served for over thirty years as a uniformed volunteer in law enforcement – currently assigned to the NYC transit police previously serving as an EMT and lifeguard.

"DAU's New Online CM Course and the Credentials it Provides" by Michael Treadwell, CM Advocates LLC, CMPIC and ACDM

Presentation Overview: The Defense Acquisition University (DAU) has recently deployed a cross-disciplinary online Configuration Management Course, entitled LOG 2040. The presentation will highlight the learning objectives and give an overview of this course that is described in its introductory paragraph: “As the principal Configuration Management (CM) instruction for the defense acquisition workforce, this course provides a comprehensive overview of the effective application of CM across the lifecycle of a Department of Defense (DoD) system. The course will address the knowledge and skills essential for acquiring, designing and developing, managing and operating a successful CM Program and reflect relevant CM requirements, procedures, tools, data and best practices.”

Screenshots of the actual course, the learning objectives of the twelve modules of the course, and a sampling of the related CM references from the course will be discussed, and the author’s assessment of this training opportunity will be given.

In addition, DAU has also instituted a series of 38 different credential programs within the various disciplines of Defense Acquisition. The LOG 2040 course- Configuration Management along with eight other online courses when completed lead to the awarding of the Technical Data Management Credential. The path to acquiring a credential with DAU will be discussed along with procedures how to get a DAU account that will permit access to these courses for government and industry (non CAC card) as well as foreign allies.



Speaker Bio: Mike is a CMPIC Associate Instructor for both public offerings as well as on-site Configuration Management Courses. Principal, Configuration Management Advocates, L.L.C., a consultancy firm specializing in the training, assessment and advisement of configuration management and business practices

Mike is current President, Association of Configuration and Data Management, an international consortium of Configuration and Data Managers. Past Chair, SAE International G-33 Committee on Configuration Management

Mike has over three decades of configuration management experience in the Aerospace and Defense marketplace as both an acquirer (U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command and U.S. Postal Service) but also a supplier (Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, Motorola, Lockheed Martin). Holds Configuration Management certification from National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA), the Institute of Configuration Management (ICM now operating as iPX) and CMPIC, including designation as a Configuration Management Subject Matter Expert (CMSME)

Mike is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy Prep School, attended the U.S. Naval Academy, and has been awarded the following the academic degrees: Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Earth Sciences – Towson State University; Master of Science in Management (MSM) – Regis University; Graduate Certificate in Systems Engineering – University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). Serves on the Board of Directors for the Literacy Council of the Eastern Panhandle (West Virginia), volunteers as a mathematics tutor for Adult Education - Jefferson County (WV) Board of Education and as a qualified driver for the Disabled Veterans of America (DAV) in providing transportation to disabled veterans. Retired from the United States Navy with over 28 years honorable service.

"PANEL DISCUSSION: CM's Role in Sustainability" Hosted by CMPIC

Presentation Overview: PANEL DISCUSSION: CM's Role in Sustainability. Join the discussion and ask questions of this panel of experts.




Speaker and Presentation Information is subject to change.



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