Standard

A policy may mandate that all devices must be adequately protected. A standard supporting this policy requires that all operating systems on PCs must be Windows 8 or higher.

Baseline

A snapshot of PCs with Windows 8 is taken as the configuration baseline. Let’s call it baseline version 1.0.

Change Management

One year goes by, a change request to upgrade the PCs to Windows 8.1 is submitted. It is approved and implemented; the baseline version 1.0 is changed to baseline version 1.1, Windows 8.1.

Now, the latest baseline is version 1.1 (Windows 8.1), while the standard remains intact, Windows 8 or higher.

Summary

In this case, a standard is a document, while a baseline is a snapshot that meets the standard. A baseline can be changed only through the change management process.