For years, we convinced ourselves that Dev-Test-Staging-Production pipelines kept us safe. If we just had one more layer of validation and one more environment to test in, we’d catch the problems before they hit production.
Except… that was a lie.
Staging environments aren’t production. They’re expensive illusions of safety. The data is different. The scale is different. The behaviours are different. And when failures inevitably show up in production anyway, teams scramble, wondering why their extensive pre-release testing didn’t catch the issue.
Modern software delivery isn’t about pretending production doesn’t exist; it’s about embracing it. Audience-based deployment (sometimes called ring-based deployment) is the smarter approach: releasing features to small, targeted user groups first, monitoring real-world behaviour, and expanding based on what the data tells us.
You don’t need more pre-production gates. You need faster feedback in production.
Are you still clinging to staging environments? What’s stopping you from moving forward?
If you've made it this far, it's worth connecting with our principal consultant and coach, Martin Hinshelwood, for a 30-minute 'ask me anything' call.
We partner with businesses across diverse industries, including finance, insurance, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, technology, engineering, transportation, hospitality, entertainment, legal, government, and military sectors.
Jack Links
Lean SA
Emerson Process Management
Alignment Healthcare
Flowmaster (a Mentor Graphics Company)
Illumina
Big Data for Humans
Capita Secure Information Solutions Ltd
SuperControl
NIT A/S
MacDonald Humfrey (Automation) Ltd.
Workday
Graham & Brown
ALS Life Sciences
Trayport
Schlumberger
DFDS
Slicedbread
Washington Department of Transport
Nottingham County Council
Department of Work and Pensions (UK)
Royal Air Force
Ghana Police Service
Washington Department of Enterprise Services
Workday
Milliman
Freadom
Alignment Healthcare
CR2
ALS Life Sciences