Testers can advise if there are any show-stoppers that may delay a release. They can also advise on important items that will be individually evaluated and non-production impacting defects that can move to the feature backlog for inclusion in a future release.
The iterative nature of Agile allows for major and maintenance releases to be planned effectively. Maintenance releases are those designed to be low volume, quick-win defect resolution delivery of features. Maintenance releases can be a part of either the functionality or date driven release cycles. Testers will work in collaboration with the product owner to rank defects and determine what can be effectively delivered. Maintenance releases are generally calendar driven so that project stakeholders and end users can know that a cadence has been established to eliminate production issues.
Release planning is a collaborative effort that reflects what features are to be developed and delivered at what interval to maximise the benefits of the product for end users. Utilising test driven development techniques will give a scrum team the tools to best deliver features. Schedule methodologies such as Functionality and Date Driven releases, allow the project stakeholders to best align product releases with the needs of their organisation and end users.
Recommended Further Reading
The following materials may assist you in order to get the most out of this course: