How do you document and review your release readiness plan and outcomes?

1 Define your release scope and objectives

The first step is to clearly define what you want to achieve with your release and what features, fixes, or enhancements are included. You should align your release scope and objectives with your product vision, roadmap, and stakeholder expectations. You should also identify any dependencies or prerequisites that need to be resolved before the release, such as infrastructure, configuration, data, or security requirements.

2 Establish your release criteria and metrics

The next step is to establish how you will measure the success of your release and what criteria you will use to determine if it is ready to go live. You should define the quality standards, performance indicators, and business outcomes that you expect from your release. You should also specify the testing methods, tools, and environments that you will use to verify your release criteria and metrics. For example, you may use unit tests, integration tests, user acceptance tests, load tests, or production monitoring.

3 Assign your release roles and tasks

The third step is to assign the roles and responsibilities of the release team and the stakeholders involved in the release process. You should define who will do what, when, where, and how in each stage of the release cycle. You should also document the communication channels, escalation procedures, and approval processes that you will use to coordinate and collaborate with your release team and stakeholders. For example, you may use email, chat, phone, or meetings to communicate and report on the release status and issues.

4 Review your release readiness plan

The fourth step is to review your release readiness plan with your release team and stakeholders and get their feedback and approval. You should ensure that your release plan is realistic, feasible, and aligned with your release scope, objectives, criteria, and metrics. You should also identify and address any gaps, risks, or issues that may affect your release readiness. You should update your release plan as needed based on the review results and document any changes or decisions made.

5 Execute your release readiness plan

The fifth step is to execute your release readiness plan according to your schedule and procedures. You should follow your testing methods, tools, and environments to verify your release criteria and metrics. You should also monitor your release performance and impact and collect feedback from your users and stakeholders. You should document any incidents, errors, or defects that occur during or after the release and how you resolved them.

6 Evaluate your release outcomes

The final step is to evaluate your release outcomes based on your release criteria and metrics. You should compare your actual results with your expected results and analyze the root causes of any deviations or discrepancies. You should also assess the user satisfaction, business value, and return on investment of your release. You should document your findings, lessons learned, and recommendations for future releases.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?