Maintenance is defined as the necessary actions taken to ensure systems, subsystems, equipment, and components provide their intended functions when required. When properly executed, maintenance serves to keep a system functioning correctly and efficiently over time.
There is a close relationship between configuration management and maintenance, as configuration management provides the framework for maintaining systems and their components in a consistent and controlled state, while maintenance ensures those systems continue to operate effectively.
Over time however, it is recognized the potential for discrepancy may exist due to variations and deviance as undocumented or unapproved changes are made to software, hardware, or operating systems, leading to inconsistencies and potential security vulnerabilities. When properly applied, configuration management principles serve to prevent the potential for a gradual divergence of a system's configuration from its actual, intended, or defined state while ensuring maintenance activities are performed on a well-defined, understood, and approved configuration baseline.