1. State of Georgia Release Management Training
4/26/2017Change/IMAC Process Training for Hess
State of Georgia Release Management Training
Welcome to the Change Process Training for Resolvers course in support of Hess.

2. Agenda Release Management Definition Roles and Responsibilities
4/26/2017Change/IMAC Process Training for Hess
Agenda
Release Management Definition
Roles and Responsibilities
Create or Update the Release Calendar
Release Management Process Flow
Release Planning Considerations
Contact Information

3. Release Management - Definition
4/26/2017Change/IMAC Process Training for Hess
Release Management - Definition
The purpose of Release Management is to provide a method to manage and implement change requests into production by using a set release schedule and by packaging work items into logical groupings. The objectives of Release Management are to:
Control the production environment
Promote Change Requests efficiently and in a timely manner
Reduce the amount of "reactionary" activity that results from non-planning
Allow the ability to efficiently assign resources to change requests by providing maximum utilization of resources
Improve efficiencies by leveraging resources for testing activities across multiple work efforts
Plan and organize hardware and software requests into a release schedule
Monitor the progress of the projects within the release
Package work requests into logical groupings for implementation into production
Plan and implement approved new applications and functionality to support GTA business priorities
Integrate with other operational planning and management processes such as Change Management, Technology Strategy and Refresh, Project Management, Request Governance, Configuration Management and Service Level Management
Manage software and hardware release distribution requests efficiently from a single point of control including:
Policy definition, request handling and planning activities
Building, testing and distributing activities for release packages
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4. Release Management - Definition
4/26/2017Change/IMAC Process Training for Hess
Release Management - Definition
A release is defined as a collection of hardware, software, documentation, processes or other components required to implement one or more approved Changes to IT services. The contents of each release are managed, tested, and deployed as a single entity. It is a set of configuration items that is tested and introduced into the IT pre-production and production environment together. A release may include any combination of application software, system software, and hardware, together with associated documentation.
It is distinct from a Change, in that a Change is the addition, modification or removal of anything that could have an effect on IT Services.
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5. Release Management - Definition
4/26/2017Change/IMAC Process Training for Hess
Release Management - Definition
Release Management includes all activities required to plan and implement large, critical, or major rollouts of software and hardware. Its goal is to take a holistic view of such rollouts and changes to manage and control all technical and non-technical aspects of the release together. Changes are implemented through the Change Management process.
IBM’s role in planning and implementing releases for GTA is limited to infrastructure, operating systems, and tools. For applications, IBM will support application support teams as needed for these release activities, becoming involved in the creation of test environments and in release of the code into the production environment.
IBM’s role in planning and implementing releases for GTA is limited to infrastructure, operating systems, and tools. For applications, IBM will support application support teams as needed for these release activities, becoming involved in the creation of test environments and in release of the code into the production environment
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6. Release Management – Roles and Responsibilities
4/26/2017Change/IMAC Process Training for Hess
Release Management – Roles and Responsibilities
The GTA and IBM roles involved in Release Management, and the responsibilities associated with those roles, are as follows.
GTA Release Management Focal
The GTA Release Management Focal is responsible for:
Collaborating with the IBM Release Architect to define what constitutes a release unit
Providing input to define the release calendar
Agreeing upon scheduled releases to be executed
Communicating the release calendar and specific release plans to affected GTA stakeholders and users
Assisting in the integration of related sets of changes to specific releases
Acting with the Change committee to approve releases to move to production
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7. Release Management – Roles and Responsibilities
4/26/2017Change/IMAC Process Training for Hess
Release Management – Roles and Responsibilities
IBM Process Lead
The IBM Process Lead is responsible for participating in roll-outs in which
process activities, such as Refresh and Technical Currency, have initiated the
release, or process activities, such as End User Computing Services, that are
initiated by the release. Specific responsibilities include:
Providing input on upcoming roll-outs to populate the release calendar
Assisting in planning releases and defining release content
Assisting with the management of relevant release projects through execution and evaluation
Updating the CMDB with configuration items changed as a result of the release
Communicating and reporting project status to GTA and IBM stakeholders
Confirming that the release and its deliverables are executed according to IBM process and policy standards
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8. Release Management – Roles and Responsibilities
4/26/2017Change/IMAC Process Training for Hess
Release Management – Roles and Responsibilities
IBM Release Architect
The IBM Release Architect is responsible for:
• Collaborating with the GTA Release Management Focal to define what constitutes a release unit
• Reviewing the Technology Refresh Plan and the Technology Refresh Deployment Schedule to provide input into the release plan
• Reviewing the previous release plan for input into the new plan
• Reviewing system capacity for input into the release plan
• Reviewing the release environment for changes that may affect the release
• Assisting in developing release content
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9. Release Management – Roles and Responsibilities
4/26/2017Change/IMAC Process Training for Hess
Release Management – Roles and Responsibilities
IBM Release Coordinator
The IBM Release Coordinator is responsible for any GTA site-specific tasks. Responsibilities include:
• Acting as single point of contact for each requested release
• Interfacing with the CAB, as required
• Providing input to assist in planning the release calendar
• Communicating release plan to stakeholders
• Determining release deployment strategies with GTA Release Management Focal
• Interfacing with GTA or IBM service teams, as needed
• Providing timelines and resource estimates
• Approving release content with GTA Release Management Focal
• Coordinating the release through testing, as required
• Communicating status and issues to IBM Process Lead
• Identifying and communicating issues and problems to release staff
• Communicating changes in technical and documentation standards to the IBM Process Lead and the Service Desk
• Maintaining version control for all releases, utilizing the appropriate tool(s) in conjunction with development and test teams
• Updating the change record for each release
• Assisting in evaluating the success of the completed release
• Implementing and enforcing deployment best practices and administrative procedures
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10. Release Management – Roles and Responsibilities
4/26/2017Change/IMAC Process Training for Hess
Release Management – Roles and Responsibilities
IBM Release Analyst
The IBM Release Analyst is responsible for:
• Assisting in planning the release and defining release content
• Coordinating and reporting on user acceptance testing (UAT) and quality assurance testing (QAT), as needed
• Obtaining and coordinating official CAB approval for the move to production
• Initiating the promotion of the release into production and assisting with configuration and installation, as needed
• Communicating problems and managing activities through the release process
• Performing system testing of the release after moving into production
• Reviewing impact of emergency changes on planned releases, as needed
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11. Create or Update the Release Calendar
4/26/2017Change/IMAC Process Training for Hess
Create or Update the Release Calendar
The following high-level interface flows illustrate the interfaces between GTA personnel
and IBM service delivery personnel. The two interface components of Release
Management are to create or update the Release Calendar, and manage and
implement the release.

12. Release Management Process Flow
4/26/2017Change/IMAC Process Training for Hess
Execute a Release
Release Management Process Flow 12

13. Release Management - Supplementary Interface Information
4/26/2017Change/IMAC Process Training for Hess
Release Management - Supplementary Interface Information
Release Planning Considerations
When packaging Change Records into releases, the
following considerations should be taken into account for prioritizing,
assigning resources, and scheduling:
• GTA impact
• GTA priority
• Business impact
• Business justification
• Business priority
• Complexity
• Length of available change windows
• Number of Configuration Items (CIs)
• Regulatory requirements
• Resource availability
• Security of affected components and data

14. Release Management - Supplementary Interface Information
4/26/2017Change/IMAC Process Training for Hess
Release Management - Supplementary Interface Information
Release Planning Considerations
Change Management
Change Management is required to confirm that standard methods and
procedures are used during change, to minimize the negative impact of
changes on the environment, and to maximize the productivity of the users,
developers, testers and support team. Change Management also provides
sufficient lead-time and notification to affected parties enabling successful
implementation of the requested change.
Release Calendar
Release Management is intended to supplement Change Management.
Prior to implementing a release, a release calendar is required to be
established and communicated to all stakeholders. A release calendar
contains all the dates during the year on which grouped Change Records
can be implemented into production.
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15. Release Management - Supplementary Interface Information
4/26/2017Change/IMAC Process Training for Hess
Release Management - Supplementary Interface Information
Release Planning Considerations
Release Plan Requirements
All releases are required to follow defined policies such as release
definitions, scope, conventions, frequency, documentation standards,
authorization requirements, and deliverables. These policies are
defined in the release content defined for each release.
Configuration Management
Release Management is required to control configuration items (CI),
including update of CIs in the CMDB, documenting CI attributes and
relationships in release documentation, observing CI naming
conventions, using appropriate repositories for controlling CIs
(Definitive Software Library (DSL), Definitive Hardware Store (DHS),
controlled document storage), and authorization of CI updates through
Change Management.
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16. Release Management - Supplementary Interface Information
4/26/2017Change/IMAC Process Training for Hess
Release Management - Supplementary Interface Information
Release Planning Considerations
Project Management
Project Management should be engaged for all releases, in order to control the
work as a cohesive and comprehensively planned project. Specific areas of
concern to releases typically include: Asset Management, Service Level
Management, IT Security Management, Change Management, System Support
and Configuration Management. The Project Manager (see the Project
Management section) should review all relevant requirements of these related
services, for instance obtaining or complying with: purchase requests, license
agreements, support agreements, Service Level Agreements (SLAs), hardware
installation and move procedures, software installation and maintenance,
disposal procedures for equipment and software, security policies and
procedures such as ISeC, change policies, procedures and schedule, and
configuration policies and standards
Release Scheduling
The release plan is composed at least annually and updated if the impact of
emergency changes affects the schedule.
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17. 4/26/2017Change/IMAC Process Training for Hess
Contact Information
If you have more questions regarding the release management process, please use the below contact information.
Change/Release Management Coordinator
Cameron Toon