The applications of release management tools involve the creation, quality testing, deployment, and software releases support.
The application release cycle encompassing IT environments from development to release and support have now become an increasingly intricate process. With Agile technologies growing more prominent within the last 10 years, the frequency of new software releases and updates has increased exponentially, and the cycle has now become extremely compressed.
The crushing responsibility of engineering departments and the development teams to keep up with the evolving pace of the release cycle has led to an undeniable requirement for automation, simplification, and rapid solutions.
With advancements, the release lifecycle now involves automated approaches such as test, deployment and even feedback automation. In feedback automation, required fixes are collected automatically and forwarded into the development pipeline.
Release management tools are a new yet crucial discipline within the field of software application development. CI/CD pipelines, Agile techniques and DevOps practices have now become more popular. These processes depend on release management tools for faster, efficient and frequent applications release.
What Features Should You Look For While Selecting Release Management Tools?
- Integrated communication tools
- Automation potential
- Key integrations and configurations
- Web-based portal
- Scalable
- Complete software lifecycle visibility
- Security and compliance
- Customisable and modifiable dashboard
- Application tracking & deployment
- Multi-cloud deployment
Factors That’ll Determine The Type Of Release Management Tools?
The Size and Employee Strength of Your Company
The release management tools you select depends on the size of your organisation and employee strength. For smaller organisations, you may need fewer functionalities, while for large enterprises, the toolsets might be more intricate.
The Volume Of Projects
Some tools are suitable for serving enterprises that manage vast numbers of projects across multiple IT environments at a time.
Usability
The primary job of the release management tool is to simplify the release management process. Therefore you need to look for a tool that isn’t exceedingly difficult to learn and understand.
Additionally, select a tool that provides a good, responsive and personalised support system.
Advantages Of Using Release Management Tools
Software release management tools provide various significant benefits:
Successful Software Product Releases
The goal of release management tools is to introduce a system that eliminates downtime and enhances efficiency in the application development and production environment. Ultimately, this approach will generate more revenue while simultaneously strengthening your organisation’s competitive advantage.
Furthermore, a more efficient system substantially accelerate releases to end-users who can start experiencing the updated features and functionality.
Also Read: Release Management Explained in Depth
Enhanced Quality Of Release
With the correct release management tools, you can outline a more detailed and clear process that accounts for bugs and risks along the entire workflow, regardless of creating new product creation or updating enhanced functionality to an existing one.
You can also synchronise the timing with resources so that nothing is pushed out of the door in a premature state. With release management tools, you can automate the overall process, thus eliminating the additional risk of manual or human error.
Improved Collaboration and Communication
With clearly defined development processes, the release management approach enables the engineering/development team to work in collaboration with the operations team.
The release tools help to eliminate bottlenecks that might have otherwise created a concrete wall in the way of collaboration and consistent communication between IT teams and the rest of the organisational groups.
Streamlined Development Process With Standardisation
Release management tools ensure every software development process adheres to a pre-defined clear path. In fact, organisations with the highest number of successful software releases often follow a standardised process throughout the product life cycle because it helps in effective and efficient planning based on previous experiences.
Standardisation leads to a reduced number of nasty surprises and more rapid resolution of configuration issues.
Release management tools increase the number of successful releases and reduce quality issues. Productivity, collaboration, coordination and communication are enhanced. Your organisation can deliver quality applications faster while reducing risk.
