Hardware and software configuration items are an important aspect of the enterprise configuration management process. Typical software configurations involve control files, scripts and executable components such as binary classes however model driven, policy-based software requires additional configuration items such as design models, transformation maps, business rules and operational polices and authorisations. These units are managed with a combination of process and tools to avoid the introduction of errors and to maintain high quality results. The units themselves can be considered configuration items, or they may be combined into an overall collection that is managed under the same set of processes and tools.

From the perspective of the implementer of a change, the configuration item is the "what" of the change. Altering a specific baseline version of a configuration item creates a new version of the same configuration item, itself a baseline. A release (itself a versioned entity) may consist of several configuration items. The set of changes to each configuration item will generally be reported in the release notes and configuration reports that may contain specific headings for each configuration item.

As well as participating in the implementation of a change and in the management of a change, the listing and definition of each configuration item may act as a common vocabulary across all groups connected to the product. It should be defined at a level such that an individual involved with product marketing and an individual at the 'coal face' of implementation can agree to a common definition when they use the name of the configuration item. Selection and identification of configuration items for a particular project can be seen as a basic step in making the architecture comprehensive from the top down.

Configuration items, their versions and their changes which form the basis of any configuration audit are an important aspect of reusable asset management.