Agile Project Delivery and Release Foundations

Agile Project Delivery and Release Foundations is the set of concepts describing the practical steps by which planned and executed work is actually made available to its intended audience, closing the loop between release planning's earlier scoping and forecasting and the concrete act of putting a release into production use. Where release planning addresses what a release will contain and when it is expected to be ready, delivery and release foundations addresses the operational process of confirming readiness, executing the release itself, and handling what happens if that release does not go as intended.

This foundation covers project delivery in general terms, the readiness checks performed both at the level of an individual delivery and at the level of a full release, the actual execution and deployment of a release into production use, the validation performed to confirm it succeeded, and the fallback and acceptance practices used to handle problems or formally close out a completed release.

Delivery in General

Agile Project Delivery and Release Definition

Agile project delivery and release together describe the process by which completed work moves from an internally finished state into actual availability for its intended audience, encompassing the readiness checks, execution, and validation this transition requires.

Project Delivery Definition

Project delivery is the overall act of providing a project's output to the people or systems it is intended for, encompassing everything from final readiness confirmation through actual handoff.

Confirming Readiness

Delivery Readiness Definition

Delivery readiness is the state of a specific piece of completed work having satisfied every condition necessary for it to be delivered, extending the definition of done to the point of actual handoff rather than only internal completion.

Release Readiness Definition

Release readiness is the state of an entire release, potentially combining multiple delivered items, having been confirmed ready as a whole, distinct from delivery readiness in that it concerns the combined release rather than any single item within it.

Executing a Release

Release Execution Definition

Release execution is the actual process of carrying out the steps required to make a release available, translating a confirmed-ready release plan into a concrete, completed action.

Product Deployment Definition

Product deployment is the specific technical act of placing a product or update into the environment where it will actually be used, forming a core part of release execution.

Production Release Definition

A production release is a release made available in the live, real-world environment used by actual end users, distinguished from any earlier, more limited or controlled release stage.

Confirming and Recovering From a Release

Release Validation Definition

Release validation is the process of confirming, after execution, that a release has actually succeeded and is functioning as intended in its live environment.

Release Rollback Definition

A release rollback is the deliberate reversal of a release, returning the environment to its prior state, undertaken when release validation or subsequent observation reveals a serious problem that outweighs the value of the release as delivered.

Closing Out a Release

Delivery Acceptance Definition

Delivery acceptance is the formal confirmation, typically by a stakeholder or accountable role, that a specific delivered item meets its intended standard, extending story acceptance to the broader act of delivery.

Release Completion Definition

Release completion is the point at which a release has been executed, validated, and accepted, formally closing out that release and marking the transition back into ongoing planning for whatever comes next.