A quick overview of release planning for agile teams. Includes a sample release plan. Feedback is welcome and appreciated!

1. {
Release Planning
For Agile teams. A quick overview.

2.  Defines the scope a team intends to deliver by a
given deadline
A Release Plan

3.  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

4.  About The Plan
 Defined by 1 person
 Inflexible
 Refined
A Release Plan isn’t

5. { {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

6. Dependency Driven
 Determine the delivery sequence based on
dependency releases
3rd Approach

7.  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

8. { Story Points/Velocity X Iterations = Timeline
Sample Release Plan

9. { Story Points/Velocity X Iterations = Timeline
Sample Release Plan

10. { Story Points/Velocity X Iterations = Timeline
Sample Release Plan

11. { Story Points/Velocity X Iterations = Timeline
Sample Release Plan

12.  Team velocity changes
 Much Faster
 Much Slower
 After several iterations
 When interference arises
 Every iteration (ideally)
Update the release plan
when…

13.  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?

14. 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

15.  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

16. 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

17. Thank you!
Michael R. Benning, CSM
www.linkedin.com/in/michaelbenning/