Agile Release Management

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Release Management (RM) facilitates delivery of a quality product by managing, planning, scheduling and controlling the integration, testing and deployment of a product increment – the Release. This is where the "rubber hits the road" and all plans and expectations meet a hard reality. Working to satisfy the many stakeholders that can be involved in a complex release can be a high-intensity challenge that can degenerate into a high-pressure, reactive and conflict-ridden release phase. Having a simple, lean RM process that is understood by all parties is essential to improve team and organizational delivery velocity without the stress and potential burnout of a bad release experience.

A good release process ensures that the different facets of the product, and more generally the solution which might include the software, infrastructure, business processes and human capabilities; come together into a complete package that satisfies some end-customer's requirements. RM agility requires striking a balance between the concerns of developers, testers and QA representatives with the business demands for rapid delivery of features and reliable schedules. This is best achieved by adopting agile principles and providing full visibility/ transparency of the release lifecycle that invites timely and orderly multi-disciplinary engagement of product owners, architects, developers, testers and business stakeholders. Establishing a continuous integration and delivery Agile Release Train is today a key development capability that can ensure practiced reliable delivery of a quality release.
In this two-day program we will explore the essential practices and processes necessary to achieve agile release management.

Through this program, attendees will:
1. Revise agile principles as they apply to RM
2. Review a generic RM lifecycle (pattern) that identifies core activities necessary to plan, control, integrate and deploy a release
3. Learn the different roles that participate in the release process and better appreciate their viewpoint and contribution
4. Consider the different types of artifacts that can constitute their "release configuration" and relate that to the different stakeholder viewpoints
5. Hear case studies on different release processes and the tools that offer automation and continuous integration and delivery support
6. Appreciate the 5 abstraction layers of a release that will improve their ability to communicate across the organization
7. Understand the 3 critical perspectives that together provide a more reliable assessment of release status
8. Develop a "strawman" end-to-end Agile Release Train plan (noting specific exceptions) walking through generic step-by-step stages. e.g. Decide your cadence
9. Identify potential choke-points in the lifecycle exploring different scenarios that facilitate resolution
10. Participate in exercises that enable them to reflect on and share their own release experiences
11. Perform a simple gap-analysis that forms the basis of an adoption/ transition plan for Agile RM

Schedule

DAY ONE

• Revise agile principles as they apply to RM
• Review a generic RM lifecycle (pattern) that identifies core activities necessary to plan, control, integrate and deploy a release
• Learn the different roles that participate in the release process and better appreciate their viewpoint and contribution
• Consider the different types of artifacts that can constitute their "release configuration" and relate that to the different stakeholder viewpoints
• Hear case studies on different release processes and the tools that offer automation and continuous integration and delivery support
• Appreciate the 5 abstraction layers of a release that will improve their ability to communicate across the organization

DAY TWO

• Understand the 3 critical perspectives that together provide a more reliable assessment of release status
• Develop a "strawman" end-to-end Agile Release Train plan (noting specific exceptions) walking through generic step-by-step stages.
• Identify potential choke-points in the lifecycle exploring different scenarios that facilitate resolution
• Participate in exercises that enable them to reflect on and share their own release experiences
• Perform a simple gap-analysis that forms the basis of an adoption/ transition plan for Agile RM

End of Day Two: EXAM (open book, open note)

Registration Guide

This course is by reservation only and is filled on first come-first serve basis. Invoicing and tuition reimbursement are available. Deferred Payment Acceptable

Course Administered at FedEx Institute of Technology, 365 Fogelman Drive. 

How to register?

FedEx Institute of Technology Travel Information

Instructor Bio

Dr Louis Taborda is passionate about positive changes in business, technology and society at large. Working across the program/project lifecycle, he has been at the forefront of solution development methods for over 25 years. In his diverse career he has held various roles including developer, architect, tester and project manager, as well as taking senior management roles in engineering, software, IT and service organizations. As the Chief Technologist for a leading software tools vendor, Louis was an early evangelist and coach for Agility and DevOps – before it had a name. He recently authored the definitive book on Enterprise Release Management, which extended his PhD research to address the scaling of agile delivery to complex and interdependent project portfolios. In May 2018, PMI Australia presented Louis with the Distinguished Contribution to Project Management- 2018 Award for his work to make research more relevant and meaningful to project practitioners. Based out of Sydney, Louis consults internationally and continues to write, teach and develop collaborative execution techniques that apply Agile and Lean principles to streamline delivery in challenging, multi-stakeholder environments.