Release management in DevOps

Release management is the process that involves managing, planning, scheduling, and controlling the entire software build across all stages and environments, including testing and deploying software releases. This article intends to explore release management,its need.It also includes the strategies and best practices of release management.

While developing the project, you need a process for managing planning, scheduling, and controlling a software build through different stages and environments, including testing and deploying software releases. This is where the release management role comes in.The release cycle has become more important to IT professionals.We see the importance of release management as an increasing discipline in this world. in the modern iterative world where feedback and performance metrics are incorporated directly into the development cycle, the process of overseeing the development cycle requires dedicated resources and personnel. In this article you will learn about release management. Best practises and stategies and you will also get answer to the question why it is needed?

Table of contents

• What is release management?
• Why DevOps Still Needs Release Management
• Strategies used in DevOps
• Best practises for release management

What is release management?

Release management is a structured model that refers to the process of planning, designing, scheduling, testing, deploying, and controlling software releases. It ensures that release teams efficiently deliver the applications and upgrades required by the business while maintaining the integrity of the existing production environment.

Release management is the process of managing the planning, scheduling, and control of a software build through different stages and environments, including testing and deploying software releases. Devops release management emphasises the collaboration and communication of software development team members.

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Why DevOps Still Needs Release Management

Quality control

Before releasing software to the public, release management thoroughly tests and reviews it to ensure its quality.This ensures that the software is of high quality and that any defects are caught and fixed before they cause problems for customers.

Release management mitigates the risks

Release managers can reduce the likelihood of data loss, downtime, and other problems that can impact customers by carefully planning and coordinating software releases, 

Streamlining the work

Release management streamlines the software development process (by automating repetitive tasks and reducing manual interventions).This can save time and resources, and enable organisations to release software more quickly and with greater frequency.

Communication

Release management helps facilitate communication between operations teams, development teams, and other stakeholders involved in software deployment. This ensures that everyone is on the same page and that everyone understands what needs to be done to ensure a successful release. rewrite like a human being.

What are the main goals of devops release management?

1. In order to provide value to the customer, the devops release cycle should deploy releases into operation and establish effective use of services.
2. Release and deployment management also ensures handover to service operations takes place and that suitable training and documentation exist to ensure ongoing support of the new service release management strategies There are basically four main releases.

Strategies used in DevOps

1. Slow cadence release windows

A release window is a period of time when new software may be released.

For example, your organisation may determine, based on low server demand, that the period between 12 a.m. and 3 a.m. on Saturday morning will be the weekly release window. Within this window, there may be various subsets of the release window. These are known as release slots; release slots can serve as rollup points within the release window. The period of slow cadence release windows tends to be less frequent, occurring weekly, monthly, or even longer; however, in terms of modern high availability application services, this paradigm has all but disappeared.

The advantages of this approach are a consistent cadence for business stakeholders and predictable release date targets for delivery teams. A major disadvantage of the slow cadence release window is that it tends to bottleneck a release management process. There are only so many slots available within the release window, and this may force some teams releases to be delayed until the next release window. This problem may be exacerbated further if the team is attempting to adopt a continuous delivery model.

2. Release train

The idea of a release train is that every team associated with the train has the same release cadence. The train may be released once a quarter, once a month, or even once a week. This approach is commonly used on larger programmes where there are many teams contributing features or subsystems to the release. The predictable schedule of the train is very attractive to business stakeholders, just as with a real life train. If you miss the train, the release point for your feature or update must wait until the next train. 

3. Release Planning

Plan and prioritise each release, which involves defining the scope and timeline for each release. 

4. Risk Management

Identifying and minimizing potential risks is crucial through risk management, which may include testing, monitoring, and contingency planning.

5. Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)

Automating the process of building, testing, and deploying software through Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) allows for more frequent and confident software releases while reducing errors and downtime. Proper tracking and management of changes to the software, including bug fixes, feature enhancements, and security updates, is also important through change management. Version control is necessary to track and manage changes to software code, allowing for easy rollback if necessary and clear documentation. Finally, communicating with stakeholders about the software release through clear and concise release notes is crucial for Release Notes and Communication.

Best practises for release management

1. Carefully define your criteria

The new feature must be fully functional and stable. Before the dark launch, the feature must be thoroughly tested, and any bugs or issues must be addressed. Now what is a dark launch? A dark launch strategy is a process of testing new features without making them publicly available to all users. This is done to reduce the risks associated with a full launch and to allow the team to test and debug the features in a controlled environment.

2. Test new features without the repercussions of a full launch

To ensure consistency and reliability, production environments should be imitated during the dark launch strategy. This means that the dark launch environment should be set up to closely resemble the production environment to ensure that the feature works as intended in the real world.

3. Automate processes to reduce manual errors and save time

Automated processes must be in place to reduce manual errors. Automation reduces the risk of human error and ensures that the process is consistent and reliable.

4. Track metrics to measure the success of your releases

Metrics must be tracked to measure the success of the release: Key performance indicators (KPIs) must be defined and tracked to determine if the feature is successful.

5. Review launches to learn from mistakes 

Launches must be reviewed to learn from mistakes and improve future releases: The team should conduct a post-launch review to identify any issues that arose during the dark launch and to make improvements for future releases.

6. Reduce user impact by communicating changes and providing support

Communication and support must be provided to reduce user impact: Users must be informed of the changes, and any necessary support should be provided to ensure a smooth transition.

Conclusion

The release management process involves several phases, including planning, designing, scheduling, testing, deploying, and controlling software releases. It also involves coordinating with different teams, such as development, testing, operations, and support, to ensure that the software is delivered on time and meets the business requirements.If you liked this article please consider liking it and sharing with your friends

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