Best 5+ Release Management Tools For Automating Processes (2023)

Release Management Tools and cycle

In this article, we'll go over some release management tools that are critical to the success of your speedy software release. In order to create automated processes that result in high-quality software releases, a release manager will need to be familiar with at least some of these tools.

These tools help increase the software delivery velocity while lowering risk and errors. Our top picks for helping you deploy faster and more efficiently are listed below, with some of them being open source while others being premium paid tools.

Check out the quick list of release management tools, then use our table of contents below to scroll quickly to the appropriate section

  1. Ansible
  2. Jenkins
  3. Plutora
  4. Chef
  5. Clarive
  6. Spinnaker

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But before we get started, let's review what release management is all about.

Release management process

Release management describes the various stages involved in the release process of a feature from conception to launch. It's the process of planning and managing software development projects throughout their entire life cycle.

The goal of the release management process is now to move software builds through the various phases faster and more frequently as organizations transition from more traditional Waterfall practices to Agile methodologies.

Here is a list of our favorite release management tools without further ado.

Release Management Tools

1. Ansible

Ansible - release management tool

Ansible is a configuration management and application deployment tool that is open source. It has the advantage of being simple and straightforward to use, resulting in a collaborative atmosphere.

This tool also improves productivity by removing repetitive tasks from your team's workload, allowing them to focus on more important tasks and strategic work.

Other features include:

  • It has an architecture that isn't based on agents.
  • Allows you to manage the lifecycle of your pp.
  • It does not necessitate any special coding abilities.

Our top choice for release management tools.

2. Jenkins

Jenkins

Jenkins is one of the most popular tools for release management on the market right now. It is a popular open-source automation server with hundreds of plugins to help you build, automate, and deploy your projects.

This tool is simple to set up and configure, and it can be distributed across multiple machines. It also integrates with virtually any tool.

It can also be used for continuous integration and delivery because it is extensible.

Other features include:

  • Installation is simple.
  • Early detection of failures
  • Aids in the organization of releases and the timely deployment of them.

3. Plutora

Plutora

By scaling Agile and DevOps across your organization, Plutora, a value stream management platform, improves time-to-value and improves your digital transformation journey.

The platform also gives you complete visibility and control over the release process, boosting productivity and allowing different teams to see what each other is working on.

This transparency into the software development process allows you to improve efficiency and reduce time-to-value, resulting in better software being delivered faster.

Other features include:

  • Increases the speed of delivery by automating and streamlining processes.
  • Improves collaboration between development and test teams to ensure quick workflows.
  • Provides information about upcoming releases to ensure that high-quality releases are delivered on time.

4. Chef

Chef

Chef promotes a DevSecOps (Development, Security, and Operations) culture by facilitating effective collaboration through software automation.

Chef assists teams in developing, deploying, and securing releases, as well as scaling continuous delivery across multiple applications.

Other features include:

  • With actionable insights for configuration, it facilitates cross-team collaboration.
  • All of your teams' operational visibility is in one place.
  • It provides a single source of truth for all environments.

5. Clarive

Clarive

Clarive makes application delivery simpler with the help of a unified workflow. This application change management tool manages changes from development to production.

You can also select a template that best suits your organization's workflow and delivery mode.

Additional characteristics include:

  • To create a deployment it provides a Kanboard board.
  • You can keep track of your release's progress as it progresses through the various stages.
  • Delivers from beginning to end.

6. Spinnaker

Spinnaker - tools for release management

Spinnaker is a multi-cloud continuous delivery platform that is open source. This Netflix-developed platform enables rapid and secure deployments across a variety of cloud providers, including AWS EC2, Kubernetes, and Microsoft Azure.

Teams can create and manage continuous delivery workflows using its deployment features, which makes it an excellet choice as a release management tool.

Other characteristics include:

  • Provides role-based access control, allowing access to be limited to specific projects or accounts, resulting in increased security.
  • Allows you to schedule the execution of stages at specific times, such as when the right people are available to access the rollout.
  • Before a release, manual judgments (a manual approval) are required.

Finally, the release management tool you choose will be determined by a number of factors, including the size of your company, the number of projects you have running at the same time, and the ease of use.

Finally, whichever of the release management tools you choose, it's critical to create consistent workflows and foster a collaborative environment to ensure a smooth release management process.

Teams will be able to build, manage, and deploy new features more efficiently if they use the right tools.

Release Management Tool FAQs

What do tools for release management do?

Software engineers primarily use release management tools to help them in the creation, testing, distribution, and maintenance of software releases. To increase the frequency and speed of releases, such release management tools are frequently integrated with their agile processes, DevOps implementations, and continuous software development practices.

How is deployment using Ansible done?

Ansible gives you the ability to reliably and consistently deploy multi-tier applications using a single shared framework. From a single shared system, you can push application artifacts and configure necessary services on various servers and components with very little overhead and manual intervention.

What distinguishes Ansible from Jenkins?

Ansible is an effective tool for automating the creation of the target environment and subsequent application deployment. Jenkins is an IT automation tool typically used for Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) to provision the target environment. The primary difference between these two is that Ansible is a paid product from Red Hat, while Jenkins is free and open-source.

About the Author
Shahzad Saeed
Shahzaad Saaed has been featured in a large number of authority websites, as a WordPress expert. He specializes in content marketing to help business grow their traffic.

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