ITIL Release Management
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Overview
Release Management helps reduce the risk of implementation of IT environmental changes to hardware and software.
Within the platform, releases are handled using the task record system. Each problem is generated through a variety of means as a task record, populated with the pertinent information in individual fields. These tasks can be assigned to appropriate release management team members, who will deal with the task as appropriate until the release has been properly deployed.
One way in which Release Management can be effectively used to coordinate releases is as a vehicle for planning releases, composed of individual features. Once a release is finalized, a Change Item can be generated (using a custom-built UI Action), allowing the implementation and deployment of a release to be handled within the change management process.
Release Management Components
Release Management consists of the following components.
- Products - Defines the hardware or software for which releases will be built. A product can be linked with a Configuration Item Business Service
- Features - Defines the features that are being built for a product. A feature may be associated with a configuration item or with a change request. A feature will eventually be associated with a release.
- Tasks - Defines the tasks that are assigned to people for implementing a feature of a product
- Releases - Defines a planned release for a product. The content of a release is defined by the features (and RFC's by association) that it implements.
- Phases - Defines the planned phases that a release will have. Phases are tasks within Service-now.com and therefore have schedules, assignments, and approvals.
Features
- Approvals - Done by browser or email
- Email Notifications - Sent at different phases in a release's lifecycle
- Audit Trail - Who changed what when?
- Tasks - Multiple tasks can be attached to any release
- Release Types - Major releases, features, bug fixes
- Scheduling - Requested by dates, actual start and end dates
- Reporting - Graphs, charts, and lists showing different perspectives of your releases
- Calendar - What released last week, what is releasing next week, what is behind schedule?
Software Control Distribution
The practice of effective Software Control & Distribution involves the creation of a Definitive Software Library (DSL), into which the master copies of all software is stored and from here its control and release is managed. The DSL consists of a physical store and a logical store. The physical store is where the master copies of all software media are stored. This tends to be software that has been provided from an external source. The logical store is the index of all software and releases, versions, etc. highlighting where the physical media can be located. The logical store may also be used for the storage of software developed within the organization. Service-now.com allows you to identify and manage this as part of the Release and Configuration Managment process.
Continual Service Improvements to Release Management
The release management process can be improved by the service desk, using information gathered within the platform. Much of the data is already stored within the incident record. More information can be gathered by enabling auditing, which allows for an accurate review of the history of the problem. With the Metric Definition Plugin, it is possible to define the Key Performance Indicators to monitor within the system. With these metrics, and the information within the database, it is possible to generate reports, which can then be added to homepages or automatically generated and distributed. With the Database Views Plugin it is possible to join tables for reporting purposes.
Using this information, it is possible to refine automatic rules such as the assignment rules, workflow, approval engines, or scheduling to better suit the release management team's unique environment.
