Optimize Applications Release Management
- The business demands high service and IT needs to respond. Rapid customer response through efficient release and deployment is critical to maintain high business satisfaction.
- The lack of process ownership leads to chaotic and uncoordinated releases, resulting in costly rework and poor hand-offs.
- IT emphasizes tools but release tools and technologies alone will not fix the problem. Tools are integrated into the processes they support – if the process challenges aren’t addressed first, then the tool won’t help.
- Releases are traditionally executed in silos with limited communication across the entire release pipeline. Culturally, there is little motivation for cross-functional collaboration and holistic process optimization.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Release management is not solely driven by tools. It is about delivering high quality releases on time through accountability and governance aided by the support of tools.
- Release management is independent of your software development lifecycle (SDLC). Release management practices sit as an agnostic umbrella over your chosen development methodology.
- Ownership of the entire process is vital. Release managers ensure standards are upheld and the pipeline operates efficiently.
Impact and Result
- Acquire release management ownership. Ensure there is appropriate accountability for speed and quality of the releases passing through the entire pipeline. A release manager has oversight over the entire release process and facilitates the necessary communication between business stakeholders and various IT roles.
- Instill holistic thinking. Release management includes all steps required to push release and change requests to production along with the hand-off to Operations and Support. Increase the transparency and visibility of the entire pipeline to ensure local optimizations do not generate bottlenecks in other areas.
- Standardize and lay a strong release management foundation. Optimize the key areas where you are experiencing the most pain and continually improve.
Optimize Applications Release Management Research & Tools
Start here – read the Executive Brief
Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should optimize release management, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:
- Optimize Applications Release Management – Phases 1-3
1. Review your release management objectives
Assess the current state and define the drivers behind your release management optimizations.
- Optimize Applications Release Management – Phase 1: Review Your Release Management Objectives
- Release Management Process Standard Template
- Release Management Maturity Assessment
2. Standardize release management
Design your release processes, program framework, and release change management standards, and define your release management team.
- Optimize Applications Release Management – Phase 2: Standardize Release Management
- Release Manager
3. Roll out release management enhancements
Create an optimization roadmap that fits your context.
- Optimize Applications Release Management – Phase 3: Roll Out Release Management Enhancements
Workshop: Optimize Applications Release Management
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
1 Review Your Release Management Objectives
The Purpose
Reveal the motivators behind the optimization of release management.
Identify the root causes of current release issues and challenges.
Key Benefits Achieved
Ensure business alignment of optimization efforts.
Firm grasp of why teams are facing release issues and the impacts they have on the organization.
Activities
1.1 Identify the objectives for application release.
1.2 Conduct a current state assessment of release practices.
Outputs
Release management business objectives and technical drivers
Current state assessment of release processes, communication flows, and tools and technologies
2 Standardize Release Management
The Purpose
Alleviate current release issues and challenges with best practices.
Standardize a core set of processes, tools, and roles & responsibilities to achieve consistency, cadence, and transparency.
Key Benefits Achieved
Repeatable execution of the same set of processes to increase the predictability of release delivery.
Defined ownership of release management.
Adaptable and flexible release management practices to changing business and technical environments.
Activities
2.1 Strengthen your release process.
2.2 Coordinate releases with a program framework.
2.3 Manage release issues with change management practices.
2.4 Define your release management team.
Outputs
Processes accommodating each release type and approach the team is required to complete
Release calendars and program framework
Release change management process
Defined responsibilities and accountabilities of release manager and release management team
3 Roll Out Release Management Enhancements
The Purpose
Define metrics to validate release management improvements.
Identify the degree of oversight and involvement of the release management team.
Prioritize optimization roadmap against business needs and effort.
Key Benefits Achieved
Easy-to-gather metrics to measure success that can be communicated to stakeholders.
Understanding of how involved release management teams are in enforcing release management standards.
Practical and achievable optimization roadmap.
Activities
3.1 Define your release management metrics.
3.2 Ensure adherence to standards.
3.3 Create your optimization roadmap.
Outputs
List of metrics to gauge success
Oversight and reporting structure of release management team
Release management optimization roadmap