Optimizing Software Delivery by Harnessing the Full Potential of Feature Flags

The digital business era is upon us. Enterprises have already made progress in tackling digital transformation and are now transitioning to running viable digital businesses that rely on software applications to generate notable returns. As such, organizations must reconsider how they release their software since traditional methods will not provide the required capabilities, controls, and agility to be competitive in an unpredictable digital marketplace. Organizations must shift from ceremonial releases to more progressive, granular, agile, and feature-focused delivery strategies.

Feature flags are a key tool for enabling progressive delivery strategies. A feature flag (aka a feature toggle) allows control of new features and how they get implemented. Development teams can use the logic in feature flags to selectively turn portions of application code on and off to test new features without deploying new code. This approach empowers teams to gather valuable user feedback, make data-driven decisions, and respond quickly to any problems that may arise during the rollout, ultimately improving the overall quality and stability of the software.

To examine businesses’ real-world experiences using feature flags, IDC interviewed three LaunchDarkly customers operating in different industries. All the customers operated complex software development and application environments across various sites and domains. These interviews probed areas such as driving forces, solution evaluation, application deployments, and lessons learned to understand how they used feature flags to enhance their ability to deliver new software innovations into the marketplace.

It should be noted that while the interview subjects were largely in software development, product management, and IT, there was much consideration for business outcomes driven by the use of LaunchDarkly feature flags and the initiatives they supported or made possible.