When software development is outsourced, release management governance becomes more important, not less. You’re effectively letting another organisation change your production environment — so the rules, controls and decision rights must be crystal clear.
What release management governance is
Release management governance is about controlling what goes live, when, by whom, and with whose approval.
When development is outsourced, governance ensures:
- You stay in control
- Changes don’t break the business
- Risk is visible and managed
- Suppliers can’t “push code” without permission
The 8 core governance elements you need
1. Clear ownership (non-negotiable)
- Business owns releases
- Supplier builds, but does not decide
- One named Release Owner on your side
If no one internally owns release decisions, you don’t have governance.
2. Formal release approval gates
At minimum:
- Development complete
- Testing signed off
- Security checks done
- Business approval given
No approval → no release.
This must be written into the contract.
3. Environment separation
Suppliers must never:
- Deploy directly to Production
- Have standing admin access
Minimum environments:
- Dev (supplier-controlled)
- Test/UAT (shared)
- Production (customer-controlled)
4. Change & release linkage
Every release must be traceable to:
- A change request
- A business requirement
- An approved backlog item
If it can’t be traced → it doesn’t ship.
5. Defined release management cadence
Decide upfront:
- Scheduled releases (e.g. monthly)
- Emergency releases (strictly controlled)
- Blackout periods (e.g. payroll, month-end)
Suppliers love clarity here — chaos helps nobody.
6. Independent testing & acceptance
Never rely solely on supplier testing.
You need:
- Customer-owned UAT
- Clear acceptance criteria
- Formal business sign-off
This is where many outsourced projects quietly fail.
7. Rollback and recovery rules
Before every release, you must know:
- How to roll back
- Who decides
- How long recovery takes
If rollback isn’t documented, the release isn’t ready.
8. Post-release accountability
After release:
- Was it successful?
- Any incidents?
- Lessons learned?
This feeds supplier performance management and future decisions.
Contractual points people often miss
Make sure contracts explicitly cover:
- Who can deploy to Production
- Approval authority
- Audit rights
- Security and access controls
- Release documentation standards
- Penalties for unauthorised releases
Governance that isn’t contractually enforceable is just “guidance”.
Board perspective
Outsourcing development does not outsource accountability.
Strong release management governance:
- Reduces operational risk
- Protects business continuity
- Improves supplier performance
- Increases confidence in digital delivery