How to successfully deploy a new software product
Space Shuttle Columbia's STS-4 mission launched from Kennedy Space Center on June 27, 1982.
The time will arrive when you’ve planned, designed, and built a great software product. It’s a huge accomplishment, and you’re excited for what the future holds. But there’s one more important step in between your ready-to-launch product and your future success: the deployment phase.
After investing in creating a high quality product, that last thing you want is to get derailed during the home stretch by a poorly implemented rollout. Your deployment process must be carefully planned and executed in line with best practices in order to maximize both its efficiency and the likelihood of a successful outcome.
What is deployment planning?
A deployment plan clarifies and outlines the process through which each deliverable of a software project is rolled out into the real world. It addresses factors such as pre-release considerations, required resources, potential risks, and anticipated timelines.
An expertly crafted deployment plan is detailed, comprehensive, and results in the release of a stable, reliable, and delightful product. It also sets the stage for a streamlined delivery process and a great customer experience.
What steps should a good deployment plan include?
There are several steps integral to a successful product deployment. Adequately addressing each one will maximize not only the chance of a smooth deployment experience in the present, but also your product’s success in the years to come.
1. Set up risk mitigation safety nets
A final backup snapshot of the application code and database will need to be completed, and thorough testing conducted in order to be 100% certain that the backup can be deployed at a moment's notice. A fast and reliable deployment process should also be put in place for any necessary future patches. Security features must be implemented and tested as necessary to guarantee the protection of sensitive data.
2. Determine which resources will be needed
The resources required for successful deployment will usually span the categories of hardware, software, and people. Will new equipment like servers or IoT devices need to be purchased? What about support systems like a project management app, or integration software? Will technical support personnel, power users, or other product champions need to be trained to aid in deployment, onboarding, or maintenance?
3. Obtain all necessary approvals
Final verifications and official approvals will need to be sought from all relevant stakeholders. A legal review may need to be conducted in some cases, especially if any data is protected by HIPAA or other government regulations and privacy laws. Deployment should only proceed once the green light has been received from all parties identified as required to sign off on the live rollout.
4. Create a deployment schedule and timeline
Each step of the deployment process will need to be carefully scheduled and mapped out. The schedule and timeline should be shared in advance with all affected internal stakeholders. The technical deployment process itself should ideally be automated to the extent possible, in order to increase speed and reduce errors. Builds will need to be submitted to Google or Apple at the appropriate time, if applicable.
5. Set KPIs and monitor performance
Set up and track your most important metrics in an analytics dashboard so that you can measure how well your new product is performing against them. System monitoring tools can also be implemented in order to let you know how well your new software is performing in regard to factors like speed and memory usage - plus if something breaks, you’ll want to find out immediately so you can fix it.
6. Prepare a robust onboarding plan
When you deploy a new software product, all users are new users. Carefully map out who will need what level of training. Craft a strategic and detailed onboarding plan which will help each user achieve their goals and receive value as quickly and easily as possible. Establish a system for training and onboarding additional new users in the future, and refine it as needed based on user feedback and new feature additions.
7. Implement features to guide continuous improvement
Integration of a chat function is a great way to both implement a user feedback system and establish a vehicle for immediate support when an issue pops up. It’s also a very good idea to set up analytics to compare your application’s actual to expected usage. For example, a heatmap system can be implemented to see where users are clicking and what content is viewed most often.
Interested in partnering with an expert deployment team?
Basecode’s team of software experts has ‘boots on the ground’ experience with successful software deployment planning and execution. Contact us at https://basecode.ca to learn more about how we can help you plan, design, build, and seamlessly deploy a best-in-class software product that delights and amazes your ideal customers.