February 25, 2018 at 18:46Application Release Automation: Automation of Release Management Goes Into the Cloud
The growing popularity of agile techniques and DevOps culture, as well as the desire to maintain continuous delivery , encourages companies to implement release automation tools.
In this article, we’ll introduce what release management is and how ServiceNow’s cloud-based Release Management solution helps IT companies cope with a number of challenges. / Flickr / Virginia State Parks / CC
Управление релизами (Release management — RM) — это процесс, который решает задачи проектирования, планирования, сборки и тестирования релизов. Главная цель RM — обеспечить предоставление услуг с заданными уровнем качества и целостности (интеграции) этих услуг.
Как полагают в Gartner, инструменты автоматизации управления релизами (Application Release Automation — ARA) также позволяют моделировать среду разработки, управлять артефактами и конфигурацией в рамках всего жизненного цикла приложения; и выполнять задачу DevOps — обеспечение быстрой и непрерывной доставки множества небольших релизов.
Voke interviewed representatives of 368 large and small IT companies involved in software development. The survey showed that the slow release rate of new software versions and their poor quality are the main problems for 60% of companies. Only 14% of respondents reported that they did not face the difficulties mentioned.
The survey also examined the phases of assembly and deployment of projects. It turned out that only in 29% of cases was continuous integration ensured with automatic verification of each stage of the assembly. With regard to deployment, automation using scripts was used in only 32% of organizations.
Theresa Lanowitz, a Gartner analyst and founder of Voke, said the lack of automation was “an amazing fact” that is damaging to the business. She believes that the percentage of automation implementation is “shockingly low” and emphasizes: “It is impossible to achieve the continuity of the process of delivery of new software versions without the introduction of basic automation tools.”
The results of the study by Forrester found similar problems: 64% Dev-Ops-developers dissatisfied releases exit speed. Most of them (32%) release new software to the market once a month, and only 8% of respondents do it daily.
According to Charles Betz, an analyst at Forrester, the results of the study show that companies and their customers will no longer wait for releases once a quarter or once a year. IT companies will strive to release new versions of their products as often as possible.
TechTarget believes that organizations' commitment to continuous integration and software delivery will help implement RM tools, including those that work in the cloud.
Moving applications to the cloud can simplify the release management process. According to Teresa Lanovitz, such a step can be carried out using ready-made RM-solutions. The "cloud" format of such solutions allows you to track all stages of the process and manage them using a single platform. However, Lanovitz believes that before implementing the ARA-product, it is worth testing trial versions from several providers in order to choose the right tool depending on the strategic plans of the company.
Larry Salomon, DevOps specialist at CA Automic, saysthat enterprises should first of all pay attention to the capabilities of cloud ARA-tools to support those applications that work in development environments where different release life cycles occur simultaneously. In addition, he advises avoiding products that require too much implementation time.
ServiceNow’s RM solution manages releases using a task recording system. The development of each (planned) function is presented in the form of a specific task, information about which is indicated in the corresponding fields. These tasks are assigned to developers who are responsible for individual stages of the release. The work process can be monitored in the RM application.
In this Gaide process described with ServiceNow RM on the example of the case of Harvard University. On page 3 you will find a detailed diagram of the interaction of different tasks: from the stage of approving a separate “feature” (for example, improving or fixing bugs) to the production stage. And page 4 shows what the whole release management process looks like in the ServiceNow application. Boston University offers a similar guide.
The RM solution is also used in conjunction with other Informa ITSM products. This international organization works in four areas: publishes scientific materials, organizes exhibitions and events, provides analytical services and conducts trainings.
According to Paul Hardy, head of the ITSM division of the enterprise, Informa consists of many branches, each of which has its own vision of business processes and how to implement them. The main problem of Informa was the lack of uniform tools for managing IT tasks. The solution to this problem was an integrated approach to service management and automation. It allowed achieving well-coordinated work of 9 thousand employees in 150 offices of the enterprise.
/ Flickr / james mann /CC
Release management is closely related to change management. As we already said, one of the goals of Release Management is to maintain the integrity of the company's services during the implementation of changes. Change Management - serves to reduce the negative consequences of the changes made. Together, they help minimize the risks of implementing change and increase customer satisfaction.
In order to implement Change and Release Management, you can use the tips based on our experience. Briefly summarized, then for the basic functioning of these processes in the company you need:
We also recommend that you read the ServiceNow Release Management overview and see how ServiceNow Change Management works.
Additional materials from the corporate guild IT blog:
In this article, we’ll introduce what release management is and how ServiceNow’s cloud-based Release Management solution helps IT companies cope with a number of challenges. / Flickr / Virginia State Parks / CC
Немного о Release Management
Управление релизами (Release management — RM) — это процесс, который решает задачи проектирования, планирования, сборки и тестирования релизов. Главная цель RM — обеспечить предоставление услуг с заданными уровнем качества и целостности (интеграции) этих услуг.
Как полагают в Gartner, инструменты автоматизации управления релизами (Application Release Automation — ARA) также позволяют моделировать среду разработки, управлять артефактами и конфигурацией в рамках всего жизненного цикла приложения; и выполнять задачу DevOps — обеспечение быстрой и непрерывной доставки множества небольших релизов.
Gartner predicts that by 2020, half of IT organizations will implement at least one ARA solution. According to September 2017, the share of companies that use release automation tools is 15%.
In 2016, the market for ARA solutions reached $ 228 million, which is 31% more than in 2015 ($ 174 million). It is expected that the average annual growth rate (CAGR) of the market will be 20% (growth rate calculated until 2020).
Release Issues
Voke interviewed representatives of 368 large and small IT companies involved in software development. The survey showed that the slow release rate of new software versions and their poor quality are the main problems for 60% of companies. Only 14% of respondents reported that they did not face the difficulties mentioned.
The survey also examined the phases of assembly and deployment of projects. It turned out that only in 29% of cases was continuous integration ensured with automatic verification of each stage of the assembly. With regard to deployment, automation using scripts was used in only 32% of organizations.
Theresa Lanowitz, a Gartner analyst and founder of Voke, said the lack of automation was “an amazing fact” that is damaging to the business. She believes that the percentage of automation implementation is “shockingly low” and emphasizes: “It is impossible to achieve the continuity of the process of delivery of new software versions without the introduction of basic automation tools.”
The results of the study by Forrester found similar problems: 64% Dev-Ops-developers dissatisfied releases exit speed. Most of them (32%) release new software to the market once a month, and only 8% of respondents do it daily.
According to Charles Betz, an analyst at Forrester, the results of the study show that companies and their customers will no longer wait for releases once a quarter or once a year. IT companies will strive to release new versions of their products as often as possible.
TechTarget believes that organizations' commitment to continuous integration and software delivery will help implement RM tools, including those that work in the cloud.
Why migrate RM to the cloud
Moving applications to the cloud can simplify the release management process. According to Teresa Lanovitz, such a step can be carried out using ready-made RM-solutions. The "cloud" format of such solutions allows you to track all stages of the process and manage them using a single platform. However, Lanovitz believes that before implementing the ARA-product, it is worth testing trial versions from several providers in order to choose the right tool depending on the strategic plans of the company.
Larry Salomon, DevOps specialist at CA Automic, saysthat enterprises should first of all pay attention to the capabilities of cloud ARA-tools to support those applications that work in development environments where different release life cycles occur simultaneously. In addition, he advises avoiding products that require too much implementation time.
ServiceNow RM Features and Usage
ServiceNow’s RM solution manages releases using a task recording system. The development of each (planned) function is presented in the form of a specific task, information about which is indicated in the corresponding fields. These tasks are assigned to developers who are responsible for individual stages of the release. The work process can be monitored in the RM application.
In this Gaide process described with ServiceNow RM on the example of the case of Harvard University. On page 3 you will find a detailed diagram of the interaction of different tasks: from the stage of approving a separate “feature” (for example, improving or fixing bugs) to the production stage. And page 4 shows what the whole release management process looks like in the ServiceNow application. Boston University offers a similar guide.
The RM solution is also used in conjunction with other Informa ITSM products. This international organization works in four areas: publishes scientific materials, organizes exhibitions and events, provides analytical services and conducts trainings.
According to Paul Hardy, head of the ITSM division of the enterprise, Informa consists of many branches, each of which has its own vision of business processes and how to implement them. The main problem of Informa was the lack of uniform tools for managing IT tasks. The solution to this problem was an integrated approach to service management and automation. It allowed achieving well-coordinated work of 9 thousand employees in 150 offices of the enterprise.
/ Flickr / james mann /CC
Where to start getting acquainted with this topic in practice
Release management is closely related to change management. As we already said, one of the goals of Release Management is to maintain the integrity of the company's services during the implementation of changes. Change Management - serves to reduce the negative consequences of the changes made. Together, they help minimize the risks of implementing change and increase customer satisfaction.
In order to implement Change and Release Management, you can use the tips based on our experience. Briefly summarized, then for the basic functioning of these processes in the company you need:
- develop an implementation plan and get acquainted with the topic (for example, here and here );
- designate a person who will be responsible for managing changes and releases;
- Define KPIs to evaluate process performance
- monitor and optimize the functioning of CM and RM.
We also recommend that you read the ServiceNow Release Management overview and see how ServiceNow Change Management works.
Additional materials from the corporate guild IT blog: