QA Release Checklist
Keep a checklist to make sure the release goes well
Release time can be a crazy time for QA. There are always things going on, from last-minute issues discovered by QA to last-minute infrastructure changes for security purposes.
It's really easy for QA team leads to get distracted and forget some of the essentials that need to happen for a release to be deployed successfully.
QA Checklist to the Rescue
The easy solution is to keep a release checklist. Something that will help you remember key things before a release gets deployed.
There's no 'one checklist fits all.' You should create a checklist that works best for your environment.
The nice thing about the checklist is that it acts as a release journal. If there are deployment issues, you can make notes on what to do in future releases.
Example Checklist Items
- All QA team members signed off on the release
- Automation Pass
- Automation total run time is acceptable
- All Critical Paths have been tested
- Release Branch matches the test branch
- Database migrators have no locking vulnerability
Checklist Stationary
You can use any digital software to create the checklist: Evernote, Microsoft Word, Notepad ...
I would recommend a paper solution. That way you can focus your computer screens on the release.
The checklist can be next to your keyboard - reminding you of all critical tasks.
I would highly recommend getting the Emergent Task Planner and using that as your checklist. It's really well put together. You can build a timeline of when sign-offs have to occur before the release is deployed.