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Depth 06.2 · Managed services · Level 3

Release operations

Release operations is the process that moves a code change from a developer's branch into production, safely and on repeat. It covers the build pipeline, the checks a change must pass, how a release reaches users and how it is rolled back when something goes wrong.

Specification

Input
Access to your repositories, current build and deploy setup, and the people who approve releases today.
Method
We automate the path to production, add the checks your team agrees on, and make every release reversible. We track the four delivery measures from the DORA research programme run by Google Cloud, which are deployment frequency, lead time for changes, change failure rate and time to restore service.
Deliverable
A documented release pipeline in your accounts, a rollback procedure that has been tested, and a release log.
Measured by
The four DORA delivery measures recorded from your own pipeline (industry benchmark: the annual State of DevOps report from DORA publishes reference ranges for each).

Most often bought inPayments and fintech, B2B software, Ecommerce

The artefact, before and after

A documented release pipeline in your accounts, a rollback procedure that has been tested, and a release log.

Before: a blank release operations record with a row for each of continuous integration and build pipeline, automated test and security checks, staged or gradual rollouts, tested rollback, release log and approvals, and no entries. After: every row carries a finding and a checked status, which is the state the work hands over.

Inside it

  • 01Continuous integration and build pipeline
  • 02Automated test and security checks
  • 03Staged or gradual rollouts
  • 04Tested rollback
  • 05Release log and approvals

Typical first engagement

The usual order of a first piece of work. Timing and price are set at scoping, once we have seen the stack.

  1. 01Current release pathYou get: How a change reaches production today, step by step.
  2. 02PipelineYou get: Automated checks, a preview environment and a one step rollback.
  3. 03Release recordYou get: Every release linked to its reviewed change and its outcome.

Managed services

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