Deployment management

The scope of this practice is deploying new or changed software, hardware, documents, processes, or any other component to production or test environments. This practice is related toughly to change control and release management practices.  

Different approaches can be considered for deployment and some organizations use them integrated. The approach selection will be based on services specifications, their requirements, and the size and type and effects of a release. These types of approaches are listed below: 

1. Phased deployment: new or changed components are deployed to a part of the environment e.g. a department, etc. and then it will be repeated for the other parts. 
2. Continuous delivery: components are integrated and tested and deployed as soon as they are needed. Therefore, there will be always the opportunity to get feedback from customers.  
3. Big bang deployment: components are deployed for all the targets at the same time. This approach is used when there is no way to use the new and old components simultaneously because of some limitations. 
4. Pull deployment: new or changed components are tested in a controlled environment and users will download and use them as they need them. 

Figure 5.37