What is release management? 3-step process for agile teams

Effective release management is crucial in software development to avoid costly mistakes and enhance learning from user feedback. Traditional release strategies often involved complex and infrequent deployments, resembling high-stakes operations with detailed rollback and test plans, but these can lead to slow learning and costly errors if things go wrong. Modern practices advocate for a more agile approach, emphasizing a three-step process: limiting the scope of initial releases to a small, targeted audience to minimize risk; releasing quickly and frequently to accelerate learning and adaptation; and rigorously measuring the results to ensure value creation and guide further development. This agile strategy allows teams to respond rapidly to user feedback and iterate on their products, avoiding the pitfalls of big-bang deployments and ensuring that new features meet user needs before full-scale rollouts.