Deployment Management Nightmares: Don’t Deploy Friday

Deployments are critical to IT operations. They let teams release features, updates, and fixes.

However, failed deployments are costly. They cause lost revenue, lower productivity, and stress.

Any day can be challenging, but Friday deployments are especially risky.

In this article, we explore the risks of Friday deployments, common causes of failure, and best practices.

We also suggest alternative schedules that reduce stress.

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The Risks of Friday Deployments

Friday deployments are tempting because updates go live just before the weekend.

However, this practice can be a recipe for disaster. For one, if something goes wrong, teams may work all weekend to fix it. That disrupts their personal lives and adds stress.

Additionally, the system may be unstable during weekend peaks, which frustrates users and costs revenue.

Finally, with reduced weekend staff, teams may not fix issues until Monday.

Real-life examples of deployment failures that occurred on Fridays include the infamous Knight Capital Group incident in 2012, in which a software glitch caused the company to lose $440 million in just 45 minutes.

In that case, the team deployed on a Wednesday, but nobody fully understood the issues until Friday.

Other examples include Amazon’s 2017 outage, which occurred on a Friday afternoon, and the 2019 Target outage, which occurred on a Saturday but was caused by a code deployment on the previous day.

Causes of Deployment Failures

There are a variety of factors that can contribute to deployment failures, regardless of the day of the week. However, deploying on Fridays can exacerbate some of these issues and make them more difficult to resolve.

One common cause of deployment failures is miscommunication between different teams or stakeholders.

This leads to misunderstandings, wrong changes, or too little testing before deployment.

On Fridays, communication gets harder because people are less reachable over the weekend.

Another common cause of deployment failures is a lack of testing or inadequate infrastructure (particularly poor Test Environments setup, meaning lower environment deployment trials are ineffective).

Deploying without enough testing causes bugs. On a Friday, those bugs may wait until Monday.

Similarly, Friday teams often have fewer staff or older infrastructure, which raises the risk.

Other factors that can contribute to deployment failures include poor change management processes, lack of automation, and insufficient documentation.

By addressing these factors, teams minimize deployment nightmares.

Best Practices for Successful Deployments

To ensure a successful deployment strategy, IT teams should prioritize best practices and effective deployment management processes. Some tips and best practices for successful deployments include:

Ensure your releases are standardised and repeatable. Leverage SOPs (aka Runsheets).
Use automation tools to streamline deployment processes and reduce the risk of human error.
Conduct thorough testing before making changes to production systems, including unit testing, integration testing, and acceptance testing.
Communicate with all stakeholders, from business teams to IT support, so everyone is aligned.
Use a robust change management process so someone reviews and approves every change before deployment.
Keep infrastructure current and give teams the resources they need.
Deploy during off-peak times to limit user impact and ease troubleshooting.

Following these practices minimizes failures and keeps deployments aligned with business needs.

Alternatives to Friday Deployments

Friday deployments may be tempting, but they are high-risk.

Fortunately, there are safer alternatives.

One option for the Deployment Manager to consider is to deploy earlier in the week, such as on a Monday or Tuesday.

This leaves time to fix issues and keeps the system stable for the weekend.

Alternatively, deploy on a Thursday to leave a day for troubleshooting.

Another option is to adopt a continuous deployment or continuous integration approach, in which teams deploy small changes frequently and automatically, rather than in large batches.

This reduces risk because each deployment is small and feedback is fast.

Ultimately, the best deployment schedule will depend on the specific needs and requirements of each organization.

However, by considering alternatives to Friday deployments and prioritizing effective deployment management processes, IT teams can avoid deployment nightmares and ensure that their systems are running smoothly and reliably.

Conclusion

Deployments are an essential aspect of IT operations, but they can also be high-risk and stressful for IT teams. Deploying on Fridays can be particularly risky, as it can lead to deployment nightmares and disrupt personal lives and weekend plans.

By understanding the risks of Friday deployments, addressing common causes of deployment failures, and following best practices for successful deployments, IT teams can reduce the risk of deployment nightmares and ensure that their systems are running smoothly and reliably.

Alternatives to Friday deployments, such as deploying earlier in the week or adopting a continuous deployment approach, can also help IT teams minimize the risk of deployment failures and reduce stress and workload.

By prioritizing effective deployment management processes and considering alternative deployment schedules, IT teams can avoid deployment nightmares and ensure that they are delivering value to their business and users.