Product Development
Software Launch Readiness Checklist
Review a release across functionality, access, data, recovery, monitoring and support. Use explicit acceptance conditions and an accountable launch decision to control the transition into production.
A release decision grounded in operational readiness
Establish exactly what is changing, who is affected and which conditions must hold before exposure increases. The checklist connects technical verification with rollout authority, customer communication and service ownership. A launch decision record keeps unresolved conditions and the recovery route visible.
Inside the resource
Release identity and acceptance
Confirm the release boundary, affected users and dependencies, then verify essential tasks and access controls.
Production and recovery
Review environments, configuration, data changes and the ability to recover safely after live transactions begin.
Monitoring, support and rollout
Set exposure stages, observable stop conditions, response ownership and the support arrangements needed at launch.
Readiness and launch decision
Work through nine readiness domains and record the decision, conditions, accountable owner and next checkpoint.
A few practical details
Who should complete the checklist?
The release owner coordinates contributions from delivery, operations, security and support. Each condition needs an accountable owner with access to the relevant evidence.
Can an incomplete condition be accepted?
Record its consequence, proposed control, owner and expiry. The person with authority for that risk must make the decision. Do not mark an unverified condition as complete.
When should the release review close?
Close it after the agreed observation period when service ownership is accepted, relevant measures remain within the agreed limits and open actions have named owners.
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