tech·nic·al·ly agile class·i·fic·at·ion

Continuous Delivery

Streamlined software delivery for rapid user feedback and continuous improvement through reliable, incremental releases.

Continuous Delivery is the practice of frequently delivering small increments of valuable product directly to real users, enabling rapid feedback, validation, and continuous improvement from the very first iteration.

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Overview

Continuous Delivery is a disciplined software delivery practice aimed at producing software in short, reliable cycles, ensuring that it can be released at any moment. It involves consistently delivering small, incremental improvements directly into the hands of real users, from the very first iteration.

According to Jez Humble, Continuous Delivery is:

“The ability to get changes—features, configuration changes, bug fixes, experiments—into production or into the hands of users safely, quickly, and in a sustainable way.”

This practice allows teams to rapidly validate assumptions, gather user feedback, and iterate towards the most valuable outcomes. By automating key elements like testing, integration, and deployment, Continuous Delivery reduces the risk of errors, improves software quality, and accelerates time-to-value.

Teams embracing Continuous Delivery can swiftly adapt to market demands and stakeholder feedback, fostering a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and responsiveness.

Learn More about Continuous Delivery

Blog

Stop Hiding Behind Complexity and Start Delivering Continuously

Continuous delivery is achievable for any software, regardless of complexity. Success depends on investment in automation, quality, and process improvement—not technical barriers.
Blog

Without Delivery, There Is No Value

Value in software is only realised through delivery. Frequent releases validate assumptions, reduce risk, and enable rapid feedback, adaptation, and continuous improvement.
Videos

Unlocking the True Power of Continuous Delivery: How Automation Transforms Software Development

Explains how automation in continuous delivery improves software reliability, reduces risk, and enables faster, safer deployments through consistent, rapid feedback loops.
Blog

Quality enablement with Visual Studio 2012

Discover how Visual Studio 2012 enables continuous quality in software development, helping you meet modern user expectations and enhance brand differentiation.
Blog

Delivery is the only Measure of Progress in Scrum

Scrum teams must deliver working software to real users every Sprint; true progress is measured by delivery to production, not just by completing internal work.
Videos

Transforming Agility: How Azure DevOps Went from Two-Year Releases to 880,000 Deployments

Explores how Azure DevOps shifted from slow, two-year releases to rapid, continuous delivery, highlighting the benefits of fast feedback, agility, and frequent deployments.
Blog

Stop Promoting Branches

Explains why promoting code through multiple branches slows delivery, increases risk, and suggests GitHub Flow or Release Flow as simpler, safer alternatives for deployment.
Blog

The Sprint is a container for Planning and not necessarily for Delivery

Explore how Scrum can enhance planning without strict delivery schedules. Learn to embrace Continuous Delivery for better software development practices.
Videos

Embrace Simplicity: How to Transform Complexity into Continuous Delivery Success

Explains how simplifying complex software and committing to change enables continuous delivery, highlighting the need for cultural shift, resilience, and ongoing improvement.
Blog

Testing in Production Maximises Quality and Value

Explains how audience-based deployment and testing in production enable faster feedback, safer rollouts, and higher software quality by targeting real users and reducing risk.
Videos

Rethinking Continuous Delivery: Why Best Practices Don't Exist in Complex Environments

Explores why fixed best practices don’t suit complex continuous delivery, highlighting adaptive approaches like audience-based delivery, testing in production, and ongoing improvement.
Videos

Embracing Automation: The Key to Transforming Your Development Process and Boosting Confidence

Explores how automation in testing, deployment, and validation streamlines development, reduces technical debt, and builds confidence for teams and customers alike.
Videos

Unlocking Code Quality: The Transformative Power of Frequent Deployments

Explores how frequent code deployments improve code quality, reduce technical debt, enable faster feedback, and support iterative, user-focused software development.
Blog

Building a release pipeline with Release Management with Visual Studio 2013

Learn to build a scalable release pipeline with Visual Studio 2013’s integrated release management. Enhance your DevOps practices for continuous delivery success!
Videos

Detecting Agile BS: Lessons from the Department of Defense

Explores why true organisational agility needs more than Agile development, highlighting the importance of continuous delivery, quality, and removing bureaucratic barriers.
Videos

Unlocking Continuous Delivery: How Feature Flags Transform Software Development

Explains how feature flags enable safe, incremental software releases, support continuous delivery, and use user feedback to improve features before full rollout.
Blog

Create a Release Management pipeline for Professional Developers

Learn to create a Release Management pipeline for developers, enhancing automation and deployment efficiency with Team Foundation Server. Dive in now!
Blog

Avoid the pick-n-mix branching anti-pattern

Discover how to avoid the pick-n-mix branching anti-pattern in software development. Learn effective strategies to enhance code quality and team trust.
Videos

Maximising Deployment Frequency: The Key to Faster Time to Market and Business Success

Explores how increasing deployment frequency, stable environments, and fast feedback loops improve software delivery, reduce time to market, and align with business goals.
Videos

Is Your Project Ecosystem Truly Agile?

Explains why true agility requires end-to-end automation and short feedback loops, not just Agile teams, to maximise value and efficiency for stakeholders in project delivery.
Blog

Quality enablement to achieve predictable delivery

Achieve predictable software delivery by establishing quality enablement. Learn key strategies to enhance your development process and reduce bugs.
Blog

Release Management with Team Foundation Server 2012

Enhance your release management strategy with Team Foundation Server 2012. Discover automation techniques and best practices for seamless deployments.
Blog

Continuous value delivery with modern business applications

Discover how modern business applications enable continuous value delivery, transforming software development practices for happier consumers and faster updates.
Blog

Standard Environments for Automated Deployment and Testing

Discover how to automate deployment and testing with Standard Environments in Visual Studio 2012 TFS, enhancing your DevOps practices for seamless delivery.

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