Policies are typically used as a deliberate plan of action to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. In ITIL the Release Policy defines the attributes the release must adhere to and the associated mechanism, roles and responsibilities.
A Release Policy typically includes- Unique identification for the release
- Type of release (minor, major, beta, alpha etc)
- Naming conventions for the release e.g. dates, times, version numbers
- Description of the release
- Roles for each stage of the release
- Expected frequency
- Mechanisms to build, install and distribute the release (focusing on re-use and efficiency here)
- Criteria for acceptance of the release into various environments (test, training, live etc.)
Note: In some cases a release may involve people from different locations and even different organisations. In these cases the policy requires entry and exit criteria to describe how and when the release will pass between the different entities.
See also- PIR - Post implementation review
- SIP - Service Improvement Plan
- SOR - Statement of Requirements