So for the "Batch update sets as soon as they hit another instance" step, is the recommendation that the individual update sets are promoted from Dev into Test and then, in Test, added to a batch set (like "Week 23 Release" or something similar) and ...

In general, I think the best approach is to use the most accurate relationship type in each case. So some app service to app service might be a dependency, while others might be "receives data from/sends data to". For bi-directional, we usually also ...