Separate continuous delivery from continuous deployment by keeping software deployable on demand and making production release policy an explicit decision.

What you will be able to do

Distinguish delivery candidate from release policy in a realistic continuous delivery and continuous deployment case.
Interpret the delivery evidence and boundary associated with deployment process.
Choose an appropriate action involving continuous deployment without exceeding the named operational scope.
Verify service verification through an observable service result and reproducible handoff.

Frame Continuous Delivery and Continuous Deployment

Separate continuous delivery from continuous deployment by keeping software deployable on demand and making production release policy an explicit decision.

A billing service passes all pipeline checks. The team must decide whether the package waits for a business release decision or deploys automatically.

Keep the delivery target, declared intent, execution evidence, reliability boundary, and recovery choice separate. Start with observable state and preserve enough context for another operator to reproduce the decision.

Delivery candidate

Continuous delivery keeps a verified software candidate ready for release on demand. Within continuous delivery and continuous deployment, this role answers a separate delivery or reliability question and keeps its own evidence.

Produce and retain the tested billing package after integration. Apply that action to the named service case before widening the rollout, infrastructure scope, or incident response.

Respect this boundary: do not equate a deployable artifact with an automatic production release. The observable result is specific: the candidate can enter production through the standard process.

Release policy

Release policy determines when an approved capability becomes available to users. Within continuous delivery and continuous deployment, this role answers a separate delivery or reliability question and keeps its own evidence.

Record the business and reliability conditions for releasing the billing change. Apply that action to the named service case before widening the rollout, infrastructure scope, or incident response.

Respect this boundary: do not hide an approval requirement inside an undocumented manual step. The observable result is specific: the release decision is explicit and auditable.

Deployment process

Deployment automation moves a chosen package through a repeatable target-specific procedure. Within continuous delivery and continuous deployment, this role answers a separate delivery or reliability question and keeps its own evidence.

Use the same automated mechanism in test and production environments. Apply that action to the named service case before widening the rollout, infrastructure scope, or incident response.

Respect this boundary: do not rebuild the package inside the production deployment. The observable result is specific: the target receives the verified candidate package.

Continuous deployment

Continuous deployment automatically sends each qualifying change to production after its gates pass. Within continuous delivery and continuous deployment, this role answers a separate delivery or reliability question and keeps its own evidence.

Enable automatic release only where risk and recovery controls support it. Apply that action to the named service case before widening the rollout, infrastructure scope, or incident response.

Respect this boundary: do not remove policy boundaries merely to increase deployment frequency. The observable result is specific: every auto-deployed revision has passed the named gates.

Service verification

Delivery is complete only when production evidence confirms the intended service outcome. Within continuous delivery and continuous deployment, this role answers a separate delivery or reliability question and keeps its own evidence.

Check billing health and the changed behavior after deployment. Apply that action to the named service case before widening the rollout, infrastructure scope, or incident response.

Respect this boundary: do not treat pipeline completion as proof of production success. The observable result is specific: the service exposes the approved behavior without slo harm.

Apply Continuous Delivery and Continuous Deployment to One Service Change

Use one bounded delivery decision: A billing service passes all pipeline checks. The team must decide whether the package waits for a business release decision or deploys automatically.

First, produce and retain the tested billing package after integration. Then, record the business and reliability conditions for releasing the billing change. Keep both observations attached to the exact revision, environment, or service window.

Next, use the same automated mechanism in test and production environments. After that, enable automatic release only where risk and recovery controls support it. Close the work only after you check billing health and the changed behavior after deployment.

Recap Before Practice and Prove

Delivery candidate: Continuous delivery keeps a verified software candidate ready for release on demand. In this service case, produce and retain the tested billing package after integration. Preserve the boundary: do not equate a deployable artifact with an automatic production release.

Release policy: Release policy determines when an approved capability becomes available to users. In this service case, record the business and reliability conditions for releasing the billing change. Preserve the boundary: do not hide an approval requirement inside an undocumented manual step.

Deployment process: Deployment automation moves a chosen package through a repeatable target-specific procedure. In this service case, use the same automated mechanism in test and production environments. Preserve the boundary: do not rebuild the package inside the production deployment.

Continuous deployment: Continuous deployment automatically sends each qualifying change to production after its gates pass. In this service case, enable automatic release only where risk and recovery controls support it. Preserve the boundary: do not remove policy boundaries merely to increase deployment frequency.

Service verification: Delivery is complete only when production evidence confirms the intended service outcome. In this service case, check billing health and the changed behavior after deployment. Preserve the boundary: do not treat pipeline completion as proof of production success.