Release Overview dashboard

  • Release version: Washingtondc
  • Updated January 20, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Release Overview dashboard

    The Release Overview dashboard in ServiceNow's Digital Product Release module provides essential information for the product team to evaluate the readiness of a release. Users require specific roles, such as product manager or release admin, to access the dashboard.

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    Key Features

    • Release Start Date: Displays the start date of the release, showing either the planned or actual date.
    • Release End Date: Indicates the end date, with a distinction between planned and actual dates.
    • Release Target Date: Shows the readiness target date for the release.
    • Risk Score: A calculated risk level based on overdue tasks and policy failures.
    • Release Tasks: Lists tasks associated with the release, grouped by their state.
    • Change Requests: Displays the status of change requests within the release.
    • Enhancements: Highlights product enhancements grouped by their state.
    • Work Items: Categorizes work items by type and state.
    • Related Tasks: Lists tasks linked to the release by type and state.
    • Policies: Shows all policies mapped to various phases.
    • Approvals: Details approval tasks by status.

    Calculation of Risk Score

    The risk score is determined using a formula that factors in overdue tasks and policy failures, with weights assigned to each. The score ranges from low (0-1) to very high (4) based on the percentage of overdue tasks and failed policies.

    Key Outcomes

    By utilizing the Release Overview dashboard, ServiceNow customers can effectively monitor release readiness, manage risks, and ensure all tasks and policies are on track, leading to more successful product releases.

    The Release Overview dashboard provides an overview of all the information about the release, which the product team can use to assess its readiness.

    Release Overview dashboard provides high-level information about a release and its progress.

    Required ServiceNow AI Platform roles

    sn_dpr_model.product_manager, sn_dpr_model.release_admin, sn_dpr_model.release_coordinator, or sn_dpr_model.release_user, needed to see the dashboard.

    Access the Release Overview dashboard

    To open the dashboard, navigate to Workspaces > Digital Product Release Workspace. Select the releases icon (Releases icon.) and then select a release from the Releases list.

    Widgets

    Widget Description
    Release start date Start date of the release.

    If the release isn’t started, the planned start date is shown. After the release starts, the actual start date is shown.
    Release end date End date of the release.

    If the release isn’t closed, the planned end date is shown. After the release is closed, the actual end date is shown.
    Release target date Readiness target date of the release.
    Risk score Risk level of a release, calculated based on the overdue tasks and policy failures. For more information, see the calculation of the risk score in the following section.
    Release tasks Number of tasks in the release, grouped by their state.
    Change requests Number of change requests in the release, grouped by their state.
    Enhancements Product enhancements in the release, grouped by their state.
    Work items Work items in the release, grouped by their type, and stacked by their state.
    Related tasks Related tasks linked to the release, grouped by their type, and stacked by their state.
    Policies List of all policies, grouped by the phases they’re mapped to.
    Approvals List of all approval tasks, grouped by their approval status.

    Calculation of risk score of a release

    The following calculation is used to measure the risk score of a release.

    Given overdue_weight + policy_failure_weight = 1, the risk score of a release is calculated according to this formula:

    Risk score = Round((Overdue task score * overdue_weight + Policy failure score * policy_failure_weight) * (Number of days elapsed in release / Total number of days in release))

    Where the overdue task score is calculated as:
    • If <10% of tasks are overdue, the overdue task score is 0
    • If 10-40% of tasks are overdue, the overdue task score is 1
    • If >40% of tasks are overdue, the overdue task score is 2
    If the task doesn’t have an end date, the phase end date is considered as the task's due date.
    And, the policy failure score is calculated as:
    • If <10% of policies failed, the policy failure score is 0
    • If 10-40% of policies failed, the policy failure score is 1
    • If >40% of policies failed, the policy failure score is 2
    The risk score is categorized as follows, based on its value:
    • 0 or 1 - Low
    • 2 - Medium
    • 3 - High
    • 4 - Very high