When implemented correctly, release management can help ensure that quality is integrated throughout the development, implementation, and delivery of services, applications, and infrastructure. This holistic, total cost of ownership approach allows for higher levels of system availability, is more cost effective to maintain, and increases overall s

The overwhelming majority of a software system’s lifespan is spent in use, not in design or implementation. So, why does conventional wisdom insist that software engineers focus primarily on the design and development of large-scale computing systems? In this collection of essays and articles, key members of Google’s Site Reliability Team explain how and why their commitment to the entire lifecycle has enabled the company to successfully build, deploy, monitor, and maintain some of the largest software systems in the world. You’ll learn the principles and practices that enable Google engineers to make systems more scalable, reliable, and efficient—lessons directly applicable to your organization. This book is divided into four sections: Introduction—Learn what site reliability engineering is and why it differs from conventional IT industry practices Principles—Examine the patterns, behaviors, and areas of concern that influence the work of a site reliability engineer (SRE) Practices—Understand the theory and practice of an SRE’s day-to-day work: building and operating large distributed computing systems Management—Explore Google's best practices for training, communication, and meetings that your organization can use

An indispensable resource for business leaders, IT professionals and project managers working to effect positive change in their organizations, this innovative book presents a new paradigm for the management of evolving business and IT architectures. Enterprise release management takes a holistic view of change that offers a synthesis of traditional management approaches, including project and change management, enterprise architecture, and development practices like configuration and release management. Unlike many books that simply focus on portfolio planning, this practical reference establishes an end to end release framework which ensures initiatives are planned and prioritized to streamline portfolio execution and delivery. Benefits of the release-centric approach advocated include reduced execution and operational risk, improved demand management and optimized release throughput. This unique book offers a fresh enterprise perspective that addresses strategic change and the release life cycle, providing executives and managers with the tools they need to chart and track the course of their business.

The Must-have Reference Guide for SAFe® Practitioners “There are a lot of methods of scale out there, but the Scaled Agile Framework is the one lighting up the world.” –Steve Elliot, Founder/CEO AgileCraft “You don’t have to be perfect to start SAFe because you learn as you go–learning is built in. Before SAFe, I would not know how to help my teams but now I have many tools to enable the teams. My job is really fun and the bottom line is I have never enjoyed my job more!” –Product Manager, Fortune 500 Enterprise Captured for the first time in print, the SAFe body of knowledge is now available as a handy desktop reference to help you accomplish your mission of building better software and systems. Inside, you’ll find complete coverage of what has, until now, only been available online at scaledagileframework.com. The SAFe knowledge base was developed from real-world field experience and provides proven success patterns for implementing Lean-Agile software and systems development at enterprise scale. This book provides comprehensive guidance for work at the enterprise Portfolio, Value Stream, Program, and Team levels, including the various roles, activities, and artifacts that constitute the Framework, along with the foundational elements of values, mindset, principles, and practices. Education & Training Key to Success The practice of SAFe is spreading rapidly throughout the world. The majority of Fortune 100 U.S. companies have certified SAFe practitioners and consultants, as do an increasing percentage of the Global 1000 enterprises. Case study results–visit scaledagileframework.com/case-studies–typically include: 20—50% increase in productivity 50%+ increases in quality 30—75% faster time to market Measurable increases in employee engagement and job satisfaction With results like these, the demand from enterprises seeking SAFe expertise is accelerating at a dramatic rate. Successful implementations may vary in context, but share a common attribute: a workforce well trained and educated in SAFe practices. This book–along with authorized training and certification–will help you understand how to maximize the value of your role within a SAFe organization. The result is greater alignment, visibility, improved performance throughout the enterprise, and ultimately better outcomes for the business.

Cisco Systems product release specialist Michael Bays organizes the process -- and the book -- into six key elements: source code control, product build, testing and defect tracking, code integration techniques, software change management, and release engineering. Bays presents detailed coverage in every area -- much of which has never appeared in a book before. Better yet, he shows how how every stage can be integrated into a single coherent process that delivers improved quality faster than the haphazard approaches most companies use today. The book is full of well-thought-out solutions to the problems you're most likely to encounter -- and the solutions are scalable, so even the smallest company can benefit from them.

“Companies have been implementing large agile projects for a number of years, but the ‘stigma’ of ‘agile only works for small projects’ continues to be a frequent barrier for newcomers and a rallying cry for agile critics. What has been missing from the agile literature is a solid, practical book on the specifics of developing large projects in an agile way. Dean Leffingwell’s book Scaling Software Agility fills this gap admirably. It offers a practical guide to large project issues such as architecture, requirements development, multi-level release planning, and team organization. Leffingwell’s book is a necessary guide for large projects and large organizations making the transition to agile development.” —Jim Highsmith, director, Agile Practice, Cutter Consortium, author of Agile Project Management “There’s tension between building software fast and delivering software that lasts, between being ultra-responsive to changes in the market and maintaining a degree of stability. In his latest work, Scaling Software Agility, Dean Leffingwell shows how to achieve a pragmatic balance among these forces. Leffingwell’s observations of the problem, his advice on the solution, and his description of the resulting best practices come from experience: he’s been there, done that, and has seen what’s worked.” —Grady Booch, IBM Fellow Agile development practices, while still controversial in some circles, offer undeniable benefits: faster time to market, better responsiveness to changing customer requirements, and higher quality. However, agile practices have been defined and recommended primarily to small teams. In Scaling Software Agility, Dean Leffingwell describes how agile methods can be applied to enterprise-class development. Part I provides an overview of the most common and effective agile methods. Part II describes seven best practices of agility that natively scale to the enterprise level. Part III describes an additional set of seven organizational capabilities that companies can master to achieve the full benefits of software agility on an enterprise scale. This book is invaluable to software developers, testers and QA personnel, managers and team leads, as well as to executives of software organizations whose objective is to increase the quality and productivity of the software development process but who are faced with all the challenges of developing software on an enterprise scale.

A single dramatic software failure can cost a company millions of dollars - but can be avoided with simple changes to design and architecture. This new edition of the best-selling industry standard shows you how to create systems that run longer, with fewer failures, and recover better when bad things happen. New coverage includes DevOps, microservices, and cloud-native architecture. Stability antipatterns have grown to include systemic problems in large-scale systems. This is a must-have pragmatic guide to engineering for production systems. If you're a software developer, and you don't want to get alerts every night for the rest of your life, help is here. With a combination of case studies about huge losses - lost revenue, lost reputation, lost time, lost opportunity - and practical, down-to-earth advice that was all gained through painful experience, this book helps you avoid the pitfalls that cost companies millions of dollars in downtime and reputation. Eighty percent of project life-cycle cost is in production, yet few books address this topic. This updated edition deals with the production of today's systems - larger, more complex, and heavily virtualized - and includes information on chaos engineering, the discipline of applying randomness and deliberate stress to reveal systematic problems. Build systems that survive the real world, avoid downtime, implement zero-downtime upgrades and continuous delivery, and make cloud-native applications resilient. Examine ways to architect, design, and build software - particularly distributed systems - that stands up to the typhoon winds of a flash mob, a Slashdotting, or a link on Reddit. Take a hard look at software that failed the test and find ways to make sure your software survives. To skip the pain and get the experience...get this book.

Ship It! is a collection of tips that show the tools andtechniques a successful project team has to use, and how to use themwell. You'll get quick, easy-to-follow advice on modernpractices: which to use, and when they should be applied. This bookavoids current fashion trends and marketing hype; instead, readersfind page after page of solid advice, all tried and tested in thereal world. Aimed at beginning to intermediate programmers, Ship It! will show you: Which tools help, and which don't How to keep a project moving Approaches to scheduling that work How to build developers as well as product What's normal on a project, and what's not How to manage managers, end-users and sponsors Danger signs and how to fix them Few of the ideas presented here are controversial or extreme; most experiencedprogrammers will agree that this stuff works. Yet 50 to 70 percent of allproject teams in the U.S. aren't able to use even these simple, well-acceptedpractices effectively. This book will help you get started. Ship It! begins by introducing the common technicalinfrastructure that every project needs to get the job done. Readerscan choose from a variety of recommended technologies according totheir skills and budgets. The next sections outline the necessarysteps to get software out the door reliably, using well-accepted,easy-to-adopt, best-of-breed practices that really work. Finally, and most importantly, Ship It! presents commonproblems that teams face, then offers real-world advice on how tosolve them.