The Evolving Relationship Between Release Management and Change Management

[Joe Offenberg]

In today’s dynamic world of IT and software development, effectively managing changes and releases has always been crucial for delivering high-quality products and maintaining operational stability. Two critical processes that have often worked together to achieve these goals are Release Management and Change Management. Though distinct in their functions, their relationship is symbiotic.  But this relationship is now evolving.  As application development moves closer to business objectives, what used to be seen as IT projects are now seen as products that drive revenue.  The relationship between change and release management must evolve. 

Traditional ITIL Change and Release

While Change Management and Release Management have distinct roles, their collaboration is essential for seamless business operations. The development methodology can also influence the relationship.  Here are several contexts of how they have traditionally interacted with Waterfall and Traditional ITIL processes vs. a more modern Agile/DevOps approach.

Context	Waterfall/Traditional ITIL	Agile/DevOps
Nature of Change	Large changes released on a periodic schedule, e.g. monthly, quarterly, bi-annually	Small incremental changes released continuously
Change Requests interacting with Releases	Releases are driven by change requests. Change Management assesses and approves changes, which then become part of a release plan in Release Management.	A more agile approach supporting continuous DevOps continuous delivery requires change records created by automated pipelines and automatically approved by automated release policies at deployment time
Coordinated Planning and Scheduling	Both processes need to work together to plan and schedule changes and releases in a sequence of dependent events	Changes are created independently to link configuration items to the release versions.
Risk Management	Change Managers evaluates the risks associated with changes, while Release Managers ensures that changes are thoroughly tested and validated before deployment.	Automated policies are used during release phases to ensure release readiness.  Change approval polices evaluate pipeline data to automate the approval process
Communication and Collaboration	Effective communication between the Change Management and Release Management teams ensures that everyone is aware of upcoming changes and releases. This collaboration is required and helps in managing dependencies, avoiding conflicts, and ensuring that all stakeholders are informed.	Human interaction is minimized in favor of tool integration with the change and release process. Change and Release Managers manage by exception when polices are not met and changes can’t be automatically approved.
Continuous Improvement	Post-implementation reviews from both Change Management and Release Management provide valuable feedback. This feedback loop is crucial for continuous improvement, helping both processes to refine their approaches and improve efficiency over time.	User experience and observability tools integrate directly with planning tools, generating new work items for subsequent releases.

The Benefits

Just as in the past, when Change Management and Release Management are well-integrated, organizations can experience several benefits:

• Reduced Downtime: Coordinated efforts minimize service disruptions and downtime.
• Increased Efficiency: Streamlined processes reduce delays and improve the speed of delivering new features and fixes.
• Enhanced Quality: Rigorous testing and validation through Release Management, combined with the thorough impact analysis of Change Management, ensure high-quality deployments.
• Better Risk Management: Comprehensive risk assessments and mitigation strategies reduce the likelihood of failures.
• Improved Compliance and Auditing: Clear documentation and traceability of changes and releases aid in compliance and auditing efforts.

Conclusion

The relationship between Release Management and Change Management has always been foundational to successful IT Service Management and this does not change moving forward.  By understanding their distinct roles and how they complement each other, organizations can enhance their ability to deliver high-quality services while maintaining operational stability. Whether releasing once a year of twice a day, integrating these processes effectively leads to reduced downtime, increased efficiency, and better risk management, ultimately contributing to the overall success of the organization.

Check out this short video to see examples of linking releases to changes with Digital Product Release
https://youtu.be/iyn417eqwus