Release Management

1
Release Management Ship It!

• Phyllis Kaiden
• Release Infrastructure Manager
• The Cobalt Group, Inc.

2
Outline

• What is Release Management?
• Why does it matter?
• How does it work?
• Would you ship it?
• What did we learn?

3
What is Release Management?
Release Management Definition Release Management
Responsibilities What is Configuration
Management? Product and Project Management
4
Release Management Definition

• The process by which a product is made ready for
  distribution to customers. Release management is
  the coordination of all the activities leading to
  and including product release to customers.
• The purpose of release management is to ensure
  products are ready when promised.
• Focus on software release management but basics
  apply to all product releases.

5
Its Like Baking

• Recipe the set of activities in order
• Ingredients quality components
• Variations Icing? Nuts?
• Mixing executing the recipe steps
• Baking time varies based on desired outcome
• Is it done? knowing when its just right
• Final product presentation, consumption

6
Baking Releasing

• Recipe the set of activities in order (the
  plan)
• Ingredients quality components (content,
  schedule, resources)
• Variations Icing? Nuts? (special
  considerations)
• Mixing executing the recipe steps (do the plan)
• Baking time varies based on desired outcome
  (priority of time to market, features, quality)
• Is it done? knowing when its just right
  (assess readiness against measurable criteria)
• Final product presentation, consumption
  (packaging and distribution)

7
What is a release?

• Delivery of a system from a supplier to a
  customer.
• The system consists of a set of authorized and
  integrated components.
• The supplier is usually the development
  organization.
• The customer is the internal or external
  recipient of the system.

8
Key Practices

• Release Planning Manage and publish release
  schedule
• Define deliverables included in a release
• Build and Version the integrated release package
• Manage dependencies across components
• Coordinate activities across company
• Control changes that would impact the release
  schedule
• Establish release criteria
• Assess release readiness

9
Key Principle Define Done

• Deliverables
• Dependencies
• Avoid scope creep but allow change
• Release criteria
• Objective
• Quantifiable
• Cross-functional

10
Components of a release

• Golden Build (software) CD-ROM, files
• Documentation and Help
• Training materials
• Marketing collateral
• Internal documents
• Customer Notification
• Release Notes

11
Types of Products

• Consumer shrink-wrapped, commercial
  off-the-shelf (COTS), e.g. MS Word
• Open-source download as needed, e.g. MySQL
• Hosted Application Service Provider (ASP), e.g.
  Yahoo mail
• Corporate Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP),
  e.g. Oracle Financials
• Corporate desktop enterprise distribution of
  desktop applications, e.g. MS Office
• Operating system core tools for IT, e.g. Sun
  Solaris

12
Attributes by Product Type
Consumer Open-Source Hosted Corporate Corporate Desktop Operating System
Installed by Self Self or IT Vendor Vendor IT IT
Distribution Pull Pull Push Pull Push Push
Cost
Training No No Maybe Yes Maybe Maybe
Support Vendor No Vendor Vendor IT IT
Multiple supported versions Yes Maybe No Yes Yes Yes
13
What is Configuration Management?

• The process of building the product, tracking its
  components, and managing change.
• The purpose of configuration management is to
  guarantee reproducibility of the product and
  traceability of all changes.
• Release Management and Configuration Management
  are often the same group.

14
Common Responsibilities of CM

• Source Code and Version Control
• Reproducible components of the release
• Traceable what changed in this release
• Definitive Software Library Baseline delta

baseline
delta
delta
Version 1.0
1.1
1.2
branch
baseline
merge
Version 2.0
15
Product and Project Management
ABCs of Release Management by Mario Moreira. CM
Crossroads, Aug 17 2004. http//www.cmcrossroads.c
om/ubbthreads/showflat.php?CatNumber31323Main
31323Post31323
16
Why does Release Management matter?
Common Release Problems Benefits of Release
Management Who Cares?
17
A Story Timeliness, Quality

• Three companies decide independently to develop
  appointment scheduling software. They all have
  the knowledge and funding to create a good
  product.
• Company A releases on time with 100 known issues
  and is a success.
• Company B releases on time with 50 known issues
  and fails.
• Company C releases late with 10 known issues but
  fails because Company A had already captured the
  market.

18
Common Release Problems

• Take too long impacts revenue
• Unpredictable impacts dependent plans
• Poor quality impacts support
• Not useful impacts revenue
• Contents unplanned impacts integrity
• Contents uncontrolled impacts reliability
• Overlooked distribution/installation impacts
  support

Cowham, Robert. Release Management Making it
Lean and Agile CM Crossroads, Aug 16, 2004
http//www.cmcrossroads.com/ubbthreads/showflat.ph
p?CatNumber31243
19
The Challenge

• Time to Market vs Features vs Quality
• Only one top priority
• Balance dont ignore the other two
• Release criteria reflect priorities
• Product development methodology supports
  priorities concurrent engineering, test-first
  development, prototyping

Time to Market
Features
Quality
20
Benefits of Release Management

• More successful releases
• Consistent release process
• Predictability
• Integration
• Completeness
• Quality
• Communication

21
Commitments to Customers, Stockholders,
Employees Legal Considerations Return on
Investment
Worth installing? Installable Usable Supported Bud
get Timing
Ready to sell? Demo updated Trained sales
force Pricing Order Fulfillment Contracts ready
Documentation ready Training materials Trained
support staff Release Notes Known Problems FAQ,
Knowledge Base Implementation impact
Dependencies managed Meets requirements Minimize
merging No death march Next project
Well-defined scope Resources to
support Predictable schedule Sufficient test
time Meets requirements
Dependable Installation Resources to
support Predictable schedule Configuration
Options Technical Documentation Stability,
Scalability, Reliability
Product Management Market position Product
Roadmap Project Management Project delivery
on-time Program Management Program meets
expectations
22
How does it work?
Types of Releases Software Development Life
Cycle Release Process
23
Types of Releases

• Major significant new features, product launch,
  planned, pull, annual
• Minor small new features, backwards compatible,
  planned, pull, semi-annual
• Patch collection of bug fixes, planned, pull,
  quarterly
• Emergency Urgent bug fix, harmful if not fixed,
  unplanned, push, as needed

24
Attributes by Release Type
Features/Functions Bugs Cost Urgent Scheduled Pull Backwards Compatible
Major Y (new) Y Y Y Y
Minor Y (upgrade) Y Y Y Y Y
Patch Y Y Y Y
Fix Y Y Y
25
Release Management in the Software Development
Life Cycle
26
Activity Distribution
Release activities account for 10 of effort and
15 of schedule.
McConnell, Steve. Software Project Survival
Guide. Microsoft Press, 1998.
27
(No Transcript)
28
Release Process

1. Define Content
2. Assign Version
3. Plan Release
4. Build
5. Package
6. Deploy
7. Test
8. Control Change
9. Assess Readiness
10. Release

Iterate
29
1. Define Content

• Golden Build (software)
• Documentation
• Training materials
• Marketing collateral
• Internal documents
• Customer Notification
• Release Notes

30
1. Define Content Must and Nice
Disp ID Severity Pri Description
Nice 41928 enhancement P3 Performance - Publish loadSiteLite() to replace loadSite()
Nice 59439 trivial P4 Misalignment of Editable site and Proof site sections on Manage site screen once the actor checks Lock-site checkbox.
Nice 59929 minor P5 Error messageGet A Quote formThe listed items in error message may need some order by logical or by alphabetic
Nice 57954 major P2 Only Ford Make is displayed in 'Quick Quote Form' GM Design
Nice 59368 minor P2 Masthead descenders are being chopped off in Klamath_B_Dst design
Nice 57019 minor P3 Can't tell mouse over selection from current page selection in nav
Nice 59726 minor P3 Design Celandine Titles (Header) for static pages are not bold as those for dynamic pages
Nice 60108 major P3 Misalignment of footer in Hours and directions page-Celandine designs
Must 64793 enhancement P3 create new Saab luxury design and homepage
Must 64796 enhancement P3 create new Land Rover luxury design and homepage
31
2. Assign version

• Version is a unique identifier for the product
  state as of a certain point in time. Not all
  versions are released. Versions are sequential.
• Versioning Schemes relate to release types,
  product management, and configuration management
• Major.Minor.Patch.Fix, e.g. 1.0, 1.1, 1.1.2,
  1.1.2.1
• Major.Feature.Patch, e.g. 1.0, 1.1, 1.1.2
• Major.Feature.Patch.Build, e.g. 1.0.0.301

32
3. Plan Release

• Dependencies
• Customer commitments
• Revenue recognition
• Resource availability people, environments
• Introducing too much change at once
• Stabilizing between releases
• Organizational capability

33
3. Plan Release Milestones
Scope Freeze 9/7 COMPLETE
Functional Freeze 9/17 COMPLETE
Functional Test Complete 9/30 COMPLETE
Code Freeze 10/1 COMPLETE
Regression Test Complete 10/13 COMPLETE
Golden Build 10/8 COMPLETE
Performance Test Complete 10/13 COMPLETE
Mock Deployment 10/12 FAILED
Mock Deployment 10/14 COMPLETE
Deployment Plan Review 10/15 COMPLETE
Go/No-Go 10/15 COMPLETE GO
Executive Approval 10/15 COMPLETE-APPROVED
RELEASE 10/15 COMPLETE
34
4. Build
Build (What) Visibility (Who) Frequency (When) Purpose (Why)
Private System Build Individual Developer One or more times per change task Provide feedback to the developer of the changes just implemented in the private workspace.
Integration Build Whole Development Team After each change task and/or one or more times per day (e.g. Nightly) Integrates the latest changes in the repository and runs automated tests against the release providing feedback to the development team.
Release Build Independent Test (QA or VV) Team and Customers At the end of each iteration/release Packages release for distribution to the development teams customer.
Appleton, Brad. Agile Build Promotion
Navigating the Ocean of Promotion Notions, CM
Crossroads, September 2004. http//www.cmcrossroad
s.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?CatNumber32900
35
5. Package

• Create the release package containing all release
  deliverables
• File tar, .zip, .exe, .ear
• Medium CD-ROM, tape, file server
• Bill of Materials lists whats in the package
• Final release package is golden build

36
6. Deploy

• Deployment Plan
• Install Team
• Deployment Plan Review
• Mock Deploy
• Mock Rollback
• Contact List

37
6. Deploy Sample Steps
1 Nitra "Version 2.3.3" Deployment            
2 WLS 8.1 on SMTP servers           Thomas
4 Verify email router updates in env file           Thomas
5 Verify UPSShip updates in Env File           Thomas
9 Validate receipt of Nitra, LMCC Tar Balls and Mapping Loader script           Claus
10 Add Scion Altercast fonts (Bug 61506)           Thomas
11 Prep-Outage Tasks 1 hr         Steven
12 Hot Backup Nitra DB 55 min 900 PM 955 PM     Claus
13 Check 3rd Party Services (Chrome, AIC, Vicinity) 10 mins 930 PM 945 PM     Jeff M
14 Team Check-In 5 mins 945 PM 950 PM     Team
15 Check CDC design flag to true 5 mins 945 PM 950 PM     Thomas
16 Outage            
17 NO DEALER ACCESS 5 mins 950 AM 955 AM     Thomas
18 NO CONSUMER ACCESS 5 mins 955 AM 1000 PM     Thomas
22 Shutdown Servers 40 mins          
23 Disable Nitra Monitoring 3 mins 1005 PM 1008 PM     Thomas
24 Disable Incoming Leads (no consumer access) 2 mins 1008 PM 1010 PM     Thomas
25 Allow Existing leads to pass (Big IP) 2 mins 1010 PM 1012 PM     Thomas
26 Bring down WLS (Nitra and LM) 30 mins 1012 PM 1042 PM     Thomas
27 Snapshot net-app (back up file system) 2 mins 1042 PM 1044 PM     Thomas
28 Deployment time noted (for rollback purposes) 1 mins 1044 PM 1045 PM     Thomas
29 Database Modifications 5 mins          
31 LMCC DB Script 10 min 1055 PM 1105 PM     Claus
32 Run script for Mapping loader 10 min 1105 PM 1115 PM     Claus
33 Code Deployment (LM and Nitra Clusters) 40 mins          
38
7. Test

• Plan ahead for test environments
• Execute Test Plan
• Functional test does it function as required?
• Regression test did old bugs reappear?
• Performance test does it perform within
  acceptable limits?
• Reliability test does it function consistently
  over time?
• Stress test does it function consistently under
  volume?

39
8. Control Change

• Baseline scope, requirements, design
• Accommodate controlled change
• Avoid scope creep
• Allow change, its reality
• Change requests
• Change request decision (approve, reject, defer)
• Change Control Board (CCB)
• Cross-functional representation
• Impact analysis
• Business drivers

40
9. Assess Readiness

• Release Criteria define done
• Defined Deliverables
• Features Must Have vs Nice to Have
• Quality test results, metrics
• Schedule time-to-market criteria
• Objective, quantifiable criteria preferred
• Organizational Readiness
• Support, Training, Marketing, Sales
• Acceptable Risk

41
9. Assess Readiness Release Criteria
Quality Testing Complete (functional, regression, performance, reliability, stress)
Quality Successful Mock Deployment
Quality Successful Mock Rollback
Quality "Golden" Build in Hand
Features All must have features complete
Features Documentation and Help updated
Features Release Notes Accepted by Customer Support
Schedule Schedule Clearance (no conflict)
Schedule Outage Notification Processed
Schedule Release Package Delivered to IT
Schedule Acceptable Deployment Night Coverage
Schedule Acceptable Post-Deployment Coverage
Quality Go/No Go Meeting yields Go decision. Punch List completed.
42
Assess Readiness Metrics

• Common metrics fix rate, find rate, defect
  density, rate of change
• Example find rate vs fix rate

Stability reached at week 35 of testing, when
defects fixed exceeds defects opened.
43
9. Assess Readiness Go/No-Go

• Release Readiness Assessment
• Are all release criteria equal?
• Can any criteria be waived?
• Go/No-Go
• Formal sign-off by stakeholders
• Meeting, email vote
• Recommendation by Release Manager
• Go with Punch List
• Executive Approval

44
10. Release

• Formal release by Configuration Mgmt
• Deploy to Production or Distribute to Customer

45
10. Release Programs

• Alpha test by in-house department
• Beta test by small group of customers
• Pilot
• Early Adopters
• General Availability (GA) all customers

46
Would you ship it?
Situations Is it ready? Would you ship it?
47
Situation 1 Class registration

• Criteria
• Zero priority-one defects
• Ready in time for class registration on April 1
• Data
• One priority-one defect affecting 100 music
  majors out of 3,000 students.
• Fix estimate is 3 days.
• Today is March 15.
• Ship it? More data?

48
Situation 1 Other Factors

• Cost Penalty for late delivery?
• Confidence accurate estimate? Complexity?
• Quality Danger of breaking something else? How
  much testing is needed?
• Schedule Holidays? Vacation? Customer
  availability? Hard deadline?
• Relationship Unhappy customer? Reference site?
• Workaround Manual? Send staff on site?

49
Situation 2 Java web search tool

• Criteria
• Acceptable performance 10 current
• Backwards compatibility
• Data
• Performance on page load is 5 better
• Performance on search is 20 worse
• Fix will require customer to download new Java
  Virtual Machine (JVM)
• Ship it? More data?

50
Situation 2 Other Factors

• Quantify How much loss? lt second?
• Accuracy performance test environment?
• Alternatives Optional download? Automatic
  download?
• Support Ease of download? Increased support
  load?
• Competition Market leader? Slipping?
• Usability lose customers if slow?

51
What did we learn?
Release Management Definition Key Practices Key
Principle Release Process Features, Quality, Time
to Market
52
Release Management Definition

• The process by which a product is made ready for
  distribution to customers. Release management is
  the coordination of all the activities leading to
  and including product release to customers.
• The purpose of release management is to ensure
  products are ready when promised.

53
Key Practices

• Release Planning Manage and publish release
  schedule
• Define deliverables included in a release
• Manage dependencies across components and
  activities in the release
• Coordinate activities across company
• Control changes that would impact the release
  schedule
• Establish release criteria
• Assess release readiness

54
Key Principle Define Done

• Deliverables
• Dependencies
• Avoid scope creep but allow change
• Release criteria
• Objective
• Quantifiable
• Cross-functional

55
Release Process

1. Define Content
2. Assign Version
3. Plan Release
4. Build
5. Package
6. Deploy
7. Test
8. Control Change
9. Assess Readiness
10. Release

Iterate
56
The Challenge

• Time to Market vs Features vs Quality
• Only one top priority
• Balance dont ignore the other two
• Release criteria reflect priorities
• Product development methodology supports
  priorities concurrent engineering, test-first
  development, prototyping

Time to Market
Features
Quality
57
Q A
THANK YOU!