Definition — What is Release Management? 

In an IT environment Release management is a key part of the overall software lifecycle. It's a business function that maps out every step of the product development starting from initial research to final production (which includes the process of planning, designing, scheduling, testing, deploying, and controlling software releases ). The purpose of release management connects the general industry’s importance of simplified project management with complete technical knowledge of the systems development lifecycle and IT Infrastructure Library methods. It also ensures that release teams efficiently deliver the applications and upgrades required by the business while maintaining the integrity of the existing production environment.

Think of release management as an itinerary for building new products, it usually begins in the development cycle with requests for changes or new features. If the request is approved, the new release is planned and designed. The new design enters the testing or quality assurance phase, in which the release is built, reviewed, tested, and tweaked until it is ultimately accepted as a release candidate. The release then enters the deployment phase, where it is implemented and made available. Once deployed, the release enters a support phase, the release and deployment management team work with the incident management team to resolves reported bugs and other issues, deficiencies caused by the release.