Deploying a system update or new product feature requires careful planning, preparation, and control. In BRIX Service Desk, release coordination occurs across three interconnected apps:
- Releases. Used to plan deployment timelines, track major milestones, and compile official release notes.
- Sprints. AUsed to break a release cycle down into shorter development intervals. For example, while a release might deploy monthly, tasks can be distributed across weekly sprints to help teams prioritize workloads.
- Tickets. The primary app for product owners, developers, and QA engineers. This is where specific tasks and technical updates are executed, reviewed, and tracked.
Release stages
The progression of an update is tracked via lifecycles within the Releases app:
- Plan. This status is assigned by default to all new releases.
- In progress. Active development is underway. The release scope is divided into sprints, and individual tickets are assigned to engineering teams.
- Freeze. Feature development is paused, and the codebase is locked. Unfinished tickets are finalized, and QA teams run tests. Product owners review the release page to ensure all planned tickets are marked as Done, and compile the release documentation.
- Released. It is the final release status, indicating that the system update has been delivered to end users.
- Canceled. Assigned if a scheduled update is aborted or postponed indefinitely at any point in the cycle.
Each release stage corresponds to specific sprint execution stages and ticket processing. Below, we will explore the process of preparing, executing, and releasing a system update.
Release types
Using the hierarchical directory configured in the Releases app, you can sort release records into folders. To do this:
- In the Release Types directory, create the following categories that correspond to the preconfigured folders:
- Major release.
- Minor release.
- Emergency release.
You can also add new types, and they will automatically appear as folders in the Releases app tree.
- When planning a release, select a category in the Release type field.
Next, we will look at the process of preparing, executing, and rolling out a system update.