Production stabilization
A fixed-scope project for a system that is not yet suitable for continuous delivery.
Purpose
Certain products cannot enter the monthly service safely at the outset. A reproducible runtime may be absent, the rollback path may be inoperative, backups may be unverified, or a failure mode may render every change hazardous. Stabilization exists for those conditions and for no other purpose.
Deliverables
- A reproducible runtime and a recorded production baseline.
- A deployment path with a tested rollback, and secrets and access placed within defined boundaries.
- Monitoring, alerting and logs that correspond to the actual system.
- Off-server backups with no fewer than one verified restore.
- Correction of the specific defects or structural conditions, named in the Stabilization Brief, that prevented entry into the standard service.
Exclusions
Stabilization is not a rewrite, a migration programme or an open-ended engagement. Work outside the written brief remains outside the brief. Where the assessment establishes that a system requires an architectural rebuild rather than stabilization, grm.sh states this and declines the project in preference to undertaking work that cannot be concluded.
Subsequent service
The outcome of stabilization is a system that can enter continuous product delivery on standard terms, with a recorded baseline and a monthly plan recommended on the basis of the actual backlog. Stabilization constitutes an entry route rather than a parallel service, and is undertaken once or not at all.