Structured Release Management Importance

[Akash Bhardwaj]

If you’ve ever been part of a large ServiceNow implementation, you probably know the feeling —the Friday-night panic before a production move, a handful of hotfixes sneaking in at the last minute, and half the team trying to figure out which version actually went live.

For a long time, I thought this was just “part of the process.”
But over time, it became clear — it wasn’t the size of the implementation causing the chaos.
It was the absence of a structured release management model.

In many programs I’ve seen, releases start out simple. One project team, one module, one environment. Everyone knows each other, and communication flows naturally.

But as the platform grows — with multiple vendors, tracks, and modules — things begin to break down.

• One team’s deployment overwrites another’s change.
• Defects appear in production that no one can trace.
• UAT timelines get squeezed because the business wasn’t informed early enough.
• The delivery team pushes for releases to meet contractual milestones, while the customer side is unsure of what’s actually being deployed.

The result? Frustration on both sides.
The delivery team feels blocked by governance, and the customer feels blindsided by deployments.
In the absence of structure, even the best teams end up firefighting.

That’s when I learned — good release management isn’t bureaucracy; it’s protection.
It protects the customer’s trust, the developer’s effort, and the platform’s stability.

What a Structured Release Model Looks Like

Over time, we built a release management process that replaced chaos with cadence.

Here’s how it works and how the different roles contribute.

1. Release Lead – The Custodian of Control

The Release Lead is the anchor of the process — responsible for defining the release framework and ensuring every move is reviewed and approved before it hits a higher environment.

They:

• Maintain the master release plan.
• Approve movement to UAT and staging.
• Review test and deployment artifacts.
• Schedule deployments and chair release reviews.

When this role is missing or unclear, approvals become a guessing game — and that’s where most delays start.

2. Project / CoE Release Management – The Coordinators

This team is the glue between delivery and governance.
They manage the release calendar, host coordination meetings, and ensure all changes align with process standards.

They:

• Chair weekly release coordination calls.
• Update the master release plan.
• Drive continuous service improvement.
• Handle ad-hoc or emergency release requests.

They turn release management from a reactive activity into a predictable process that teams can plan around.

3. Testing Team – The Quality Gatekeepers

In a mature model, the testing team owns the last line of defense before deployment.
They track defects, manage test cycles, and validate that every fix works as intended.

They:

• Coordinate testing and defect fixes.
• Conduct sanity and regression tests in higher environments.
• Update and maintain test cases and results.

When testing isn’t embedded into release management, you end up releasing half-finished functionality and spending double the time fixing it later.

4. Development / Scrum Teams – The Builders

Developers drive the pace of innovation — but without structured coordination, even the best code can cause disruptions downstream.

Their part in the process includes:

• Creating and updating release notes.
• Coordinating with CoE and testing teams for deployments.
• Conducting smoke tests post-deployment.
• Tracking dependencies across other workstreams.

A disciplined development team that plans for release gates avoids the “we thought it was ready” scenario that derails so many go-lives.

5. Deployment / Operations Team – The Executors

When everything is ready, this team makes it happen.
They lead the actual movement of code to UAT, staging, and production — following a controlled sequence agreed upon by all teams.

Their responsibilities include:

• Planning and leading deployment activities.
• Coordinating environment readiness and rollback plans.
• Executing production moves with precision.
• Managing minor fixes or hot deployments between major releases.

When this role is empowered, release days stop being stressful. They become routine.

Lessons Learned from the Chaos

Looking back, the difference between our earlier “release chaos” days and now is night and day.

Before:

• Teams rushed to meet deadlines.
• Customers were unclear on what was coming.
• Environments drifted out of sync.
• Fixes piled up because there was no structured testing window.

Now:

• Releases follow a predictable calendar.
• Every movement has clear approvals.
• Defects are logged, tracked, and reviewed systematically.
• The business gets visibility into what’s changing and when.