Scope control

Agile approaches such as Scrum emphasize scope control of Sprints(iterations). The scope of a Sprint should not be altered after the Sprint has started. When setting up a release plan based on a MRP with releases longer than one sprint one should on the other hand plan for some changes in scope. The multiple iterations within the release will produce some very high priority issues. One way to handle new issues during the course of the release is to reserve a buffer of about 10% in the release plan. This makes it possible to accommodate a reasonable amount of new issues and still deliver a release on an agreed date. A project that always is one Sprint from releasing risks loosing all credibility.

There is no conflict between the Scrum practice of not having buffers in Sprints and buffering a release plan. Releases will often have a fixed date. There is no point in releasing on the agreed date without essential features that have been identified in the Sprints leading up to the release.http://wiki.cantara.no/pages/editpage.action?pageId=3146928

Kanban

Scope control is equally important when using a Kanban based development process. You still need to plan for when to put a release into production as long as you are not able to do Continuous deployment.