Release Planning
Objective¶
Create a plan to ensure your solution is released to customers and/or users in the most effective way, through minimising risks and maximising knowledge sharing.
Release Planning¶
In the world of continuous deployment, many code deployments may have taken place before a solution is ready to be released. By released, we mean that a solution, or partial solution, to a defined problem, or sub-problem, has been made available to an agreed set of customers or users.
A good release plan should include:
- Plans for technical rollout
- Plans for practical rollout to customers or users, particularly if a phased or beta approach is being adopted
- Plans for testing the solution upon release
- Plans for mitigating risks and potential issues
- Plans for communicating the release, both ahead of time and once release is complete
- Plans for updating any product or feature documentation
Responsibilities¶
| Owner | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Delivery Owner | The person accountable for ensuring release plans are created, enacted and stored effectively |
| Delivery Team | The group responsible for creating and enacting a successful release plan |
| Product Lead | Usually the person responsible for describing product changes, brought about by the release, to Problem Stakeholders |
Triggers¶
The framework for the release plan should be determined during delivery planning, although it may not be possible to finalise the details of the plan until delivery work is well underway.
The release plan must be completed in advance of any releases, and should be agreed and communicated alongside the warranty plan.
Tooling¶
Toolkit