To understand the concept of “Release Models” one must first
understand the clear distinction between the Change Management process and the
process of Release and Deployment Management.
At a high level you could say that the Change Management process
activities assess, authorizes and control the change and that Release and
Deployment Process will actually execute or implement the change. This helps to
understand the difference between change and release but also to understand
that there will be different skillsets and activities involved for each area. Although Change and Release management
processes in and of themselves do have clearly defined objectives, roles and responsibilities
these processes do not stand alone and must consistently work together for
seamless integration with all of the Service Transition processes including
Service Asset and Configuration Management and Validate and Testing processes. This is especially true when you set out to
define “Release Models”.
Release Models
You might have already been exposed to the idea of having
incident models or procedures that are followed based on type of
incidents. You might also have many
change models based on type of change. This
idea of models is not unique to release management but is a theme that
permeates all service lifecycle stages and processes for ITSM. A “Release Model” is a clearly defined set of
procedures based on type of Release. It
is important to note that there is one “Release and Deployment Management”
process and that we will have many release models that run through that
process.
The content of the release model includes such things as the
roles and responsibilities required for a specific type of release. It will also contain workflow, escalation
points, handoffs, deliverables, templates, documentation procedures, timelines
and any detail required to effectively and efficiently deploy that specific
type of release. Not all releases will
require the same urgency, skillsets, and rigor.
Having models will ensure that the appropriate detail and effort is
applied.
We do this in practice but frequently these models are not
document or formalized in such a way that allows us to optimize our
productivity. One way to understand the
concept of release models is to think about the different types of releases
that you deploy in your organization that require very unique roles and
responsibilities and well as activities to deploy.
Release Model Examples
Releases for
virtualization
- Cloud architecture may require the creation of release models or procedures
that are very different from those that would be needed for the deploying
physical servers in your environment. The ITIL Core Publication for Service Transition
notes that “The tools, activities, authorities, roles and responsibilities for
creating and managing virtual servers are unique. Often these activities will
be carried out by different organizations or service units and the relationship
between them will be managed by a contract.”
With that in mind there should be no ambiguity in the organization about
how this should be managed and deployed.
This model will include all of the elements required to meet this unique
type of deployment.
Software
Deployment –
Deployment of code into the production environment will be packaged and
implemented in substantially different ways depending on your organizations
policies. Certainly this is very
different from other types of releases and will require a very special “Release
Model”. Who, what, where, when how the
software engineers deploy the code will be documented in the model with clearly
defined roles and responsibilities, timelines, and more. What is required here and the skillset and
governance is unique from other types of deployments.
Once you begin to brainstorm and come up with a list of
different types of releases, it might be helpful to categorize these into
higher level classifications. Begin by
creating a few generic release models and design a framework conducive for ongoing
improvement so that these models evolve to meet the dynamic nature of your
business. Increase productivity, reduce
cost and become awesome in the eyes of your business and customers through the
optimization of “Release Models”.
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