Web Operations

Continuous Deployment Is for Mission-Critical Applications

Having evangelized the concept of continuous deployment for the past few years, I've come into contact with almost every conceivable question, objection, or concern that people have about it. The most common reaction I get is something like "That sounds great—for your business—but that could never work for my application." Or, phrased more hopefully, "I see how you can use continuous deployment to run an online consumer service, but how can it be used for B2B software?" Or variations thereof.

I understand why people would think that a consumer Internet service such as IMVU isn't really mission critical. I would posit that those same people have never been on the receiving end of a phone call from a 16-year-old girl complaining that your new release ruined her birthday party. That's where I learned a whole new appreciation for the idea that mission critical is in the eye of the beholder. But even so, there are key concerns that lead people to conclude that continuous deployment can't be used in mission-critical situations.

Implicit in these concerns are two beliefs:

• Mission-critical customers won't accept new releases on a continuous basis.

• Continuous deployment leads to lower-quality software than software built in large batches.

These beliefs are rooted in fears that make sense. But as is often the case, the right thing to do is to address the underlying cause of the fear (http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/2009/05/fear-is-mind-killer.html ...