Feature Management And Experimentation Key To Improving Business Velocity

In a world where every company is becoming a software company, the way we deliver and control software can be used as a lever for business growth. But a software launch is a big stressor for many organizations. The stakes are high when a feature is released into production for the first time— engineering teams sit anxiously at their computers, sometimes in the middle of the night, waiting for something to go wrong. If something does go wrong, the process of remedying it can harm the customer experience, business reputation, and engineering productivity.

Contrast this with the ideal software release that’s simple, safe and well, boring. Where developers deploy code to production frequently and can roll back error-causing changes seamlessly and without negatively impacting end users. Getting there starts with feature management, an approach to software delivery that enables teams to ship software faster, while virtually eliminating risk in the process. Feature management enables businesses to more quickly implement new and beneficial features for customers and frees developers to be more productive.

Feature management lets teams progressively release code to production using feature flags to mitigate the risks associated with continuous delivery, enabling an array of impactful use cases. Businesses can reduce time to value for new features by separating deploy from release, safely testing features in production, and shortening customer feedback loops. Feature flagging allows for the ability to swiftly roll back any code and reduces operational risk. Businesses can safely migrate applications to the cloud, upgrade their tech stacks, and dynamically control features in real-time without the risk of a typical deployment.