【正文】 r divided into a number of detailed tasks and process flows, which together provide a prehensive blueprint for the release management process. These are described in the following sections. The release management process begins once change management approves a request for change (RFC) and any solutions pertaining to it have been developed and are considered pleted for release into the production environment. 8 Release Management Release Planning The first step in the release process is the creation of a plan identifying the activities and the resources required to successfully deploy a release into the production environment. The process flow leading to the creation of this plan is shown in Figure 2. Figure 2. Release planning process flow The first stage of any project planning activity is to determine what tasks need to be done, when they need to be plete (timescale), and what their priority is in relation to other tasks. Only when these issues are fully understood can the release manager draw up a detailed plan of activities and assign appropriate resources to the project. In the Release Management SMF, the release manager role is responsible for building a release (project) plan for each RFC approved by change management. Service Management Function 9 When an approved RFC is passed to release management, the release manager establishes which IT ponents and services need to be changed in order to implement it. The release manager also determines the type and nature of the change in order to plan effectively and select the most appropriate resources in terms of strategy, requirements, and cost, taking into account any agreedto service levels. To perform this activity, the release manager may call on technical specialists, subject matter experts, thirdparty suppliers, the infrastructure planning advisory board, and others who may have a clear idea of the requirements associated with the change. Having established what needs to be done, the release manager then decides how to release those changes into production. It may be appropriate, for example, to treat the RFC as a simple singlerelease project, with its own project plan and allocated resources. On the other hand, it may be beneficial to bine the changes from one or more RFCs to form a more plex release package. Once the release is defined, the release manager assigns a release priority and formulates a release plan that describes the tasks and activities required to deploy it into production. Allocating resources to each activity and factoring in resource availability enables the release manager to work out (for the first time) whether the release can be deployed by the required date. If the release is not possible given the available resources, it may be necessary to review other ongoing project mitments and consider changing priorities to facilitate progress on this release. Note that the release manager may need to discuss this with change management to ensure they have a full picture of the business priorities and any other changes that may be dependents or prerequisites of the release. With an agreedon project plan, the release manager can build and document a release strategy describing how to prepare the anization to accept the release, what risks it poses to the production environment, and the manner in which it can be removed from production should it fail to meet its objectives. Deploying any release into the production environment involves risks to the availability and reliability of that environment. All affected personnel need to be aware of the potential risks involved in the deployment. Recognizing this, the release manager should ensure that the appropriate managers agree on and sign off on the release strategy document before the release moves into the design and build phase. 10 Release Management To plete the release planning activities, MOF Team Model role cluster activities may need to be pleted, as described in Table 1. Table 1. Release Planning Activities by Role Cluster Role Cluster Release Planning Activities Infrastructure Provides technical expertise during the release planning activities, including identifying how the new release will interact with the existing systems and infrastructure. Operations Helps with advice and guidance on how the release can be implemented without undermining daytoday operations of the technology. Provides advice on training requirements for operations. Partner Provides input on how to acmodate thirdparty and supplierrelated releases. Also provides advice on how a release may affect an outsourced partner and identifies any actions that may need to be taken. Release Manages and is accountable for the endtoend activities taken throughout release management. Coordinates all other role clusters during planning. Security Provides advice and guidance on security issues related to the planning of a release. Service Offers advice on impact on existing service levels for affected service. Offers planning information from service catalog. Support Helps with expertise on how to ensure a release is fully supportable. Provides advice on training for the service desk and users. May also advise on logistical needs. Scope Release When an approved RFC is passed to release management, the release manager assesses the scope of the change before starting to build the release plan. This task involves looking at the RFC and the information provided by the change initiator, change manager, and others involved in the change process and determining which IT ponents and services need to be changed in order to implement the RFC. To perform this initial assessment, the release manager looks at the target of the release deployment and any associated configuration items (CIs) and services for which he or she may consult the C