Release Planning Themes: Breadth, Depth, BP Flow, Deployment Plan

by Jim Highsmith

My 2 August 2007 Advisor discussed the need for, and lack of in many instances, good release planning (see "Release (Project) Planning"). In the rush to deliver in short iterations (weeks), teams often suboptimize their pursuit of business value. While a particular feature may have greater business value than another, some combination of lower-valued individual features may be the most optimal to implement first. In order to bring a longer-term focus (months) to business value, projects need both an overall "vision" and shorter-term "themes" that implement that vision. Themes can be useful for iterations or, in larger projects, for milestones (several iterations).