Insights

Helen Wartnaby

10 Key factors for ensuring successful Release Management

I've worked with a number of organisations who've made frequent and sometimes extensive changes to their SAP solutions and can recall only too vividly just how confusing the whole question of Release Management can be for the uninitiated - in a two-tier architectural landscape let alone a three-tier one!  This blog covers Release Management basics for beginners and 10 key factors for ensuring successful Release Management.

What is a Release?

A software Release is a collection of new functionality to be promoted to an existing production environment on a single given 'drop date'.    A release contains one or more work packages of functionality, for example:

• New functionality on a medium to large scale - managed as a project
• Non-urgent fixes to existing functionality (e.g. BAU service requests)
• Small changes to existing functionality (e.g. BAU change requests)

Why is Release Management important?

The key objective of Release Management is to protect the live environment whilst enabling changes and enhancements to be implemented in a controlled manner so as to ensure a trouble-free go live.
Release management is necessary in order to minimise the risk of business process interruptions associated with system changes that have been poorly planned or insufficiently tested. 

Who needs Release Management?

Any organisation implementing new functionality that is closely related to existing functionality, whilst simultaneously processing anything more than a very low volume of BAU fixes and changes. An example might be an organisation recently gone live with an ERP solution that is to be rolled out to a new area of business / company for which business processes are required to differ from those of the business areas already implemented.

Release Management is less important for organisations for whom the existing functionality is very stable or the new functionality being implemented is not likely to conflict with the existing functionality - e.g. implementing CRM to complement an ECC solution.

Successful Release Management - the 10 key factors

1) Release policy: This clarifies the approach to key activities within Release Management, and defines the Roles and Responsibilities required.  It also covers release frequency and numbering. 

2) Release Management team: Key roles include an overall Release Manager, Infrastructure Manager, Release Test and Training Managers, Cutover Manager, and Solution Architect / Design Authority.  These are in addition to roles required for managing projects or work packages within the release.

3) Appropriate system architecture: In the SAP world, the recommendation is for a '2-tier' system architecture, for which an example is shown below.  This enables projects and changes being developed as part of a release to be implemented without compromising the ability to support the Production environment, which may require emergency changes and fixes to be implemented whilst build and testing of the release is in progress.  I have known an organisation who wished to effectively implement two very large releases in parallel - they had planned live dates within 3 months of each other.  This required a '3-tier' system architecture - a costly approach with a high management overhead.  Conversely I have seen organisations that wish to dispense with elements of the recommended architecture - a cost saving measure but with inherent risks that need to be clearly understood and accepted by the business.

4) Clear scope definition and adherence: Once the scope of the release has been defined and approved, only true emergencies should be considered for inclusion subsequently.

5) Release plan and timeline: This will cover all projects and work packages within the scope of the release.  Large projects within a release will necessarily dictate the overall timescale of the release.

6) Release lifecycle management: Overall management of the release as a programme of work.  In practise, each project within the release will manage its own delivery up to the end of realisation phase (the end of system / integration testing) whilst activities during the final preparation phase are managed at the release level.  However all projects and work packages within the release must deliver each phase within the timescales dictated by the release.

7) Design authority reviews: Solution and development object reviews across all work packages within the release at the end of the design phase are critical for early identification of areas of potential conflict between the work packages within the release.

8) Testing readiness: All projects and work packages within the release must be ready for migration to the Test environment simultaneously.  Testing of individual work packages should not commence if elements of the release are missing.

9) Transport management and control: Careful control over the migration of configuration and development into the test and production environments in critical in order to minimise conflicts between the different work packages within the release.

10) Stakeholder communications: Keeping business users informed of the content and delivery timescales for each release is important in maximising user acceptance of and support for the release.

For customers that need a Release Management Strategy, these are the key factors for successful management and implementation of new functionality.  Sounds easy?  My next blog will deal with some of the pitfalls and typical customer qualms about implementing a Release Management strategy.