The key to achieving Continuous Delivery is to focus on shortening every cycle. Continuous Delivery will follow as a natural byproduct.
First we start by breaking the coupling between release and deployment.
A release means the software is technically ready to be deployed; and the actual decision to deploy should be a business decision, not an engineering bottleneck.
Shrink your release cadence stepwise - three months → monthly → weekly - aiming asymptotically toward zero.
Make iterations deployable so the business can choose timing independently. Use pipelines, feature toggles, and trunk-friendly practices so deployments become routine and low risk. When release and deployment are uncoupled, the team learns faster and the business controls timing without engineering friction.
Discussions for your team
- What steps are binding the releases to deployments?
- Which pipeline gaps need to be closed?
- How will we handle rollbacks and toggles?