Release Management in SAP A structured Approach Part3
In the continuation of previous blogs
http://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/cs/junior/view/wlg/22804
Release Management in SAP –A structured Approach Part1
&
http://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/cs/junior/view/wlg/22805
Release Management in SAP –A structured Approach -Part2.
The scope of Release Management covers anything that is to be transported into the production environment. This includes everything from incident, enhancement, portal content changes, master data changes, configuration changes, support packs, legal and regulatory changes, etc. All inputs into the production environment must be scheduled into a planned release and managed through the release process.The inputs into the Release Process came from two primary sources – the Change Management Process and the AMS incident management process as depicted below
Process Flow
Release Schedule
The Release Manager will own, maintain, and publish the annual Release Schedule. The Release Schedule will be defined and published at the beginning of the year. The Schedule will be maintained via monthly Release Schedule meetings with relevant stakeholder in order to ensure that the schedule is up to date and adjusted where necessary. Any adjustments will be published to the business in order that the business may plan as appropriate. It is critical that the business agree to and understand the implications of the Release Schedule. The business must plan for a complete system outage during each release window. Should a complete system shutdown not be required, the business may continue to use the system as per normal.
Release Plan
The Release Manager will also maintain the detailed Release Plan for each Release. The Release plan will define the dates for the key activities and critical cut-off dates within each release. For example, if a Release includes enhancements, EUT will need to be planned into the cycle. Additionally, each Release will require country signoff of Regression testing. Countries must plan the appropriate resource availability during the regression testing timeframe in order to review the regression results and to provide feedback. Components which do not pass exit criteria will not be moved to the next environment and must be moved to the Release for which scope is not yet frozen.
Key Release Management cut-offs include:
- Scope defined and frozen
- Build complete
- Test complete
- EUT complete
- Regression complete
- Migration to production successful
Keeping in view of release schedule and plan we summarized the lifecycle of a release as shown below and this also added as an input to our release process later on
Phase |
Purpose |
Duration(Typical for e.g.) |
Exits criteria |
Define |
To lock the scope of the Release and kick off the build. |
0 |
Release scope frozen |
Build |
To build and unit test the Release |
15 |
Build and Unit Test complete |
Test |
To integration test the Release |
5 |
String Test complete |
EUT |
To obtain business confirmation of the changes in the Release. |
5 |
EUT complete |
Regression |
To ensure that the new changes will not clash with the current live system |
5 |
Regression Testing complete |
Cutover |
To release the approved changes into Production |
2 |
Release successfully transported into Production |
Below is the overview of the Release Process steps
Process Steps
Activity |
Responsible |
Raise enhancement request |
Requestor |
Raise incident ticket |
Requestor |
Perform Impact Assessment and update Toolset |
IT&S |
Change Management Process |
Change Approval Board |
Close Request and Communicate |
Change Approval Board |
Identify Target Release |
Change Approval Board Release Manager |
Performance Detailed Release Planning |
Release Manager |
Capacity Planning |
Change Approval Board AMS(Appl Maint & Serv) |
Create & Clarify Tickets for Approval |
AMS |
Create Work Requests |
AMS |
Incident Management |
AMS |
Freeze Release Scope |
Release Manager |
Conduct Build |
AMS |
Conduct Test |
AMS |
Perform EUT |
Requestor |
Conduct Regression Test |
AMS |
Migrate to production |
AMS |
Pass |
Release Manager |
Assign to a Subsequent Release |
Change Approval Board Release Manager |
Raise Enhancement Request
All enhancement requests must be raised in service management Toolset. Toolset will be used to track, review, and approve/reject all enhancement requests.
Raise Incident Ticket
All incidents must be recorded in a service management system regardless of their source, or who identified them or what their status is (inclusive of support group findings / observations).
Perform impact assessment and update Toolset
Effort estimates will be produced for each request with System impact in line with the Change Management Process. Effort estimates will then be updated back into Toolset.
Change Management Process
All requests will be evaluated and reviewed by the Change Approval Board in accordance with the Change Management Process.
Close Change Request and Communicate
Once the request has been either approved or rejected, the request may be closed and the requestor communicated to with the results.
Identify Target Release
Step Action
- As part of the Change Management Process, a target release date will be identified for each approval and incident Ticket based on the published Release Schedule.
- The Release Manager must review any existing planned scope for that release in order to determine if the change or incident can be incorporated into the identified release cycle.
- The Release Manager must review the detailed release management planning in order to confirm capacity and which releases may still have open scope.
- Input into prioritization effort.
Perform Detailed Release Management Planning
Step Action
- Develop detailed Release plan for each release.
- Consult existing release plans to determine capacity and whether scope has been frozen or not.
Capacity Planning
Step Action
- Review existing capacity plans for AMS Teams.
- Assessment of change and/or incident effort required and identified release window against existing capacity plans.
- Update capacity plans.
- Provide input into Change Management Process where necessary for re-prioritization.
- Replanning may be necessary if demand exceeds capacity.
Create & Clarify Tickets for Approval
Step Action
- Create service Management tickets for approved changes.
- Track enhancement approvals through service management.
Create Work Request
Step Action
- Create a Work Request for each approved enhancement.
Incident Management
Step Action
- Manage incidents in line with the Incident Management Process as per the AMS Policy and Procedures manual.
Freeze Release Scope
Step Action
- Review the proposed scope (incidents + enhancement) for a particular release.
- Escalate issues or prioritization requirements.
- In order to pass the Freeze Release scope checkpoint, the following criteria must be met.
- Scope list defined
- Functional Specifications written/updated and signed off prior to release scope being frozen
- Detailed Data Requirements updated
- Budget approved, if required
Conduct Build
Step Action
- Manage build activities of defined scope and within release timeframe.
- In order to pass Build checkpoint the following criteria must be met.
- Technical Specs written/updated and signed off
- Build and Unit Test complete
- String Test scripts available
Conduct Test
Step Action
- Execute string test activities of defined release scope and within release timeframe
- In order to pass Test checkpoint the following criteria must be met.
- String test script executed and results signed off
- EUT scripts available
Conduct EUT
Step Action
- Execute EUT activities of defined release scope and within release timeframe.
- In order to pass EUT checkpoint the following criteria must be met.
- EUT scripts executed.
- EUT results signed off by the business.
- KT to AMS Support complete.
- Release Manager Approval to migrate to pre-production.
Conduct Regression Test
Step Action
- Execute Regression Testing against incident fixes and enhancements within release timeframe.
- In order to pass the Regression Test checkpoint the following criteria must be met.
- Regression scripts executed.
- Regression results signed off by all SAP live countries.
- Transports ready for migration to production.
- Updated Support procedures in place.
- Training to end users complete.
- Communications to end users complete.
- Change Management to end users complete.
- Release Manager Approval to migration to production.
Migrate to Production
Step Action
- Transport approved incident fixes and enhancements to production.
- In order to pass Migration to Production checkpoint the following criteria must be met.
- Migrations to production successful.
- Production system checks successful.
Pass
Step Action
- Confirm whether the contents of the release have successfully passed the phase. Pass criteria for each phase is detailed above under the appropriate step.
- If an enhancement or incident does not pass a phase, the object will be removed from the release and assigned to a subsequent release.
Assign to a subsequent release
Step Action
- Evaluate the extent of the rework required on the object, the next open release (when scope has not already been locked), the planned content of sequent releases, and consult the capacity plans.
Propose next release to Change Approval Board for approval
In blog Release Management in SAP –A structured Approach –Part4 http://weblogs.sdn.sap.com/cs/junior/view/wlg/22816 we foccussed on Release Management Governance,roles and responsibility,and Communication.