IT Release Management in ServiceDesk Plus

What is release management?

Release and deployment management is the process of managing, planning, and scheduling the rollout of new IT services or upgrades to existing ones to the production environment. Here, "release" refers to the development of a newer version of a service or component, and "deployment" means the process of integrating it into the live production environment.

Why do organizations need release management?

As organizations evolve, they often need to upgrade their IT infrastructure regularly, which involves new software releases. Such software releases, whether simple or complex, are often plagued with common challenges like lack of communication between different teams, scheduling conflicts, and absence of central control. Failing to adequately address these challenges may result in underdeveloped or failed releases. This can cause a backlog of pending releases and an increase in outages, leading to costly downtime that could have otherwise been prevented.

Moreover, most organizations handle their release management processes independently from change management processes. These organizations are missing out on all the benefits that leveraging release management to efficiently implement IT changes can offer.

How can ServiceDesk Plus help?

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• Simplify IT upgrades

  Integrated with the Change Management module, you can associate changes to releases, thereby carrying over all the necessary documentation entered in the change ticket.

• Provide an Integrated calendar view

  All scheduled releases and changes are highlighted in both modules through the integrated calendar view, ensuring that no scheduling conflicts arise.

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• Offer Predefined release workflows

  The graphical drag-and-drop canvas for release workflows enables you to create custom workflows for various types (Major, Minor, or Emergency) of releases.

• Stay in control of software release processes

  Define and manage different types of releases (Major, Minor, Emergency, etc.) with custom workflows.

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• Establish a clear governance structure

  Associate roles with predefined templates to manage releases in a standardized manner.