Anticlue

Release Management Lessons Shared

Release management is all about having an efficient process of introducing new hardware and software into the IT infrastructure. However, there are some standard problems and costs that can occur at every company. Implementing a release management process is a culture change for most organizations, and as with any change there are some standard issues.

The issues one can expect to encounter with a new release management process are:

• Resistance - During the implementation of release management, some employees may cling to old processes and bypass the release management process. It may take time and repeated effort to bring the whole company into compliance with the new procedures.
• Responsibilities – It is not unusual to experience some confusion about responsibilities. Ownership of some activities may change. Also, new responsibilities will be created and owners will be assigned to them.
• Time – Often those places with the most releases have the most to gain from implementing a release management process, have the least amount of time because of the large number of releases. Working smarter is applicable here.

Also there are costs that can be expected to be incurred during the implementation of the release management process. The major costs normally are:

• Facilities - The release management process may require new facilities, including dedicated storage space for hardware and software configuration items. Companies that implement release management report increased costs for secure storage.
• Tools - The release management process may require new hardware and software tools and new network capabilities. These tools may be purchased from outside vendors, or they can be developed internally.
• Employees - The release management process requires trained employees who can perform the activities of the process. Even if no new employees are hired for release management, the process may require many hours of each employee's time.

These issues and costs are pretty standard as a component of implementing and operating with the context of a release management system. However planning for these items, is a better course of action than simply letting them occur.