Application-release automation
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Application release automation (ARA) refers to the process of packaging and deploying an application or update of an application from development, across various environments, and ultimately to production.[1] ARA solutions must combine the capabilities of deployment automation, environment management and modeling, and release coordination.[2]
Relationship with DevOps
ARA tools help cultivate DevOps best practices by providing a combination of automation, environment modeling and workflow management capabilities. These practices help teams deliver software rapidly, reliably and responsibly. ARA tools achieve a key DevOps goal of implementing continuous delivery with a large quantity of releases quickly. [3]
Relationship with Deployment
ARA is more than just Software deployment automation – it's deploying applications using structured release automation techniques that allow for an increase in visibility for the whole team.[4] It’s the combination of workload automation and release management tools as they relate to release packages and movement through different environment within your DevOps pipeline.[5] ARA tools help you regulate your deployments, how you create and deploy environments and when and how to deploy releases.[6]
ARA Solutions
Gartner and Forrester have published lists of ARA tools in their ARA Magic Quadrant and Wave reports respectively.[7] [8]All ARA solutions must include capabilities in automation, environment modeling, and release coordination. Additionally, the solution must provide this functionality without reliance on other tools. [9]
| Solution | Released by |
|---|---|
| Automic Release Automation | Automic |
| BuildMaster | Inedo |
| CA Release Automation | CA Technologies |
| ElectricFlow | Electric Cloud |
| Puppet Enterprise | Puppet |
| RapidDeploy | MidVision |
| Release Engineer | OpenMake Software |
| Release Lifecycle Management | BMC Software |
| Serena Deployment Automation | Serena Software |
| UrbanCode Deploy & UrbanCode Release | IBM |
| XL Deploy & XL Release | XebiaLabs |
| Visual Studio Release Management | Microsoft |
References
- ^ "Gartner IT Glossary – Application Release Automation (ARA)". Gartner. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
- ^ Application Release Automation Market Forecast (Report). Forrester. 2015.
- ^ Garner Market Trends: DevOps – Not a Market, but Tool-Centric Philosophy That supports a Continuous Delivery Value Chain (Report). Gartner. 18 February 2015.
- ^ Humble, Jez; Farley, David (2011). Continuous Delivery: reliable software releases through build, test, and deployment automation. Pearson Education Inc. p. 255-257. ISBN 978-0-321-60191-9.
- ^ Market Overview: Application Release Automation Tools (Report). Forrester. 2015.
- ^ Market Guide for Application Release Automation Solutions (Report). Gartner. 20 July 2015.
- ^ Fletcher, Colin (1 August 2016). Magic Quadrant for Application Release Automation (Report). Gartner.
- ^ "The Forrester Wave™: Application Release Automation, Q3 2016". www.forrester.com. Retrieved 2017-01-30.
- ^ Fletcher, Colin (1 August 2016). Critical Capabilities for Application Release Automation Solutions (Report). Gartner.