{Release Planning

For Agile teams. A quick overview.

Defines the scope a team intends to deliver by a given deadline

A Release Plan

About the Planning Determined by the Product Owner, Team,

& Scrum Coach Constructed from a preliminary feature

list Identified Prioritized Estimated (optional)

Initially rough and constantly evolving

A Release Plan is

About The Plan Defined by 1 person Inflexible Refined

A Release Plan isn’t

{ {Date Driven

Determine the features that can be delivered by a proposed date

Scope Driven

Determine a rough date to deliver a set of features

2 Main Approaches

Dependency Driven

Determine the delivery sequence based on dependency releases

3rd Approach

Shorter than a year (3-6 months, usually)*

Made up of iterations

Agile Release Cycles*Some Agile institutions can release up to multiple times daily

{Story Points/Velocity X Iterations = Timeline

Sample Release Plan

{Story Points/Velocity X Iterations = Timeline

Sample Release Plan

{Story Points/Velocity X Iterations = Timeline

Sample Release Plan

{Story Points/Velocity X Iterations = Timeline

Sample Release Plan

Team velocity changes Much Faster Much Slower

After several iterations When interference arises Every iteration (ideally)

Update the release plan when…

Management desires transparency Team desires a timeline for product

release ROI should be predicted Multi-team releases of an integrated

product When a project requires long term

planning

When is a Release Plan most valuable?

Costs & Benefits

Benefits Reduces Risk Reduces Uncertainty Supports Better

Decision Making Establishes Trust Conveys Information ROI predicted

Costs Administrative

overhead Release planning

meetings Artifacts to maintain

Overhead For Product Owner

Potential for Interference

Is not about the plan but about the planning

Is driven by scope, date, or dependency Evolves over the course of the project Is developed by the entire team Can help identify ROI and reduce risk or

uncertainty

To summarize, Release Planning

Helpful references for release planning:• http://www.extremeprogramming.org/• http

://www.versionone.com/Agile101/Agile-Development-Release-Planning/

• http://www.mountaingoatsoftware.com/books/agile-estimating-and-planning

Thank you!

Michael R. Benning, CSMwww.linkedin.com/in/michaelbenning/