Drift of Release Train

Introduction: 

As mentioned in Wikipedia: “Release Train (Release management) is the process of managing software releases from development stage to software release. It is about creating, updating and delivering the project milestones, breaking them into sprints (if following agile) or sub-releases (if following other methodology).

The art of Release Management

I consider release management an art because the build, deploy and delivery of software may sound simple, but is not. The coordination of teams, tracking of build versions, and transparency of releases is not for the faint-hearted. It is predominantly launch of a new product or revamping new features into the existing one, which will provide value to customers or users. 

Wrapping it all up in 5 steps

Phases of Release Train

Consider a software is to be designed and released. Let’s go through the phases (i.e. Planning, Building, Testing, Deployment and Closure) of release and understand how the release management process works.

• Firstly release of the software is planned to figure out what are the required tools? How many releases are required? When to release? etc. After the release team agrees on a release plan, they identify the processes, tools, and technologies required to deploy the release into production.
• Then comes the build phase, where the front-end and back-end of the software is prepared. This phase focuses on how the software will look and function. It includes following steps:

1. Build environment is prepared
2. Source code are gathered and compiled
3. Installation Packages are created

• Moving on to the next phase of release i.e., testing, which measures the completeness, correctness and quality of the release packages to ensure that it delivers the software effectively in line with requirements. Various tests are performed and approvals are obtained from intended authorities and end users. 
• Deployment is the phase where release packages are deployed to the live environment. The end users and operating staffs are trained to operate it efficiently. And the software goes live on the decided schedule and feedbacks are obtained. 
• On receiving feedback, release eventually comes into closure phase. Activity logs are updated, lessons learnt during the entire release lifecycle are documented, resources assigned to the project are released and finally status of the project is changed to close.

Conclusion:

The goal of the release management process is to ensure that all changes are deployed successfully into the production IT environment in the least disruptive manner. If organizations correctly implement the release, they can not only maximize the efficiency of the release processes, but also save a lot of money and improve the business value of services.

About Author:

Shalini Priya is a consultant in Systems Plus Pvt. Ltd. Within Systems Plus, she actively contributes to the areas of Technology and Information Security. She can be contacted at: shalini.priya@spluspl.com