Few releases in production

When an organization has to support many different versions of a system the ability to create new releases is diminished. This problem is most common with software that requires local installation. These are some of the strategies that can be used to reduce the number of releases that have to be supported:

• Automate upgrades Many desktop applications have adopted automatic upgrades. The application detects when an upgrade is available. The upgrade can be completely automatic or it can require consent from the user. The upgrade process must be as automated as possible and include validation and rollback in case of errors.

• Centralize hosting By hosting software and providing it as a service an organization gains complete control over the deployment of new releases.