Making software as a service (SaaS) updates without disrupting any of the users is always a tough job for engineering departments nowadays. Manual code updates are risky and lead to configuration issues, outages, and errors in the process.
To make sure everything works properly, modern software companies need automation of delivery processes. Creation of the saas deployment pipeline ensures validation of code changes, continuous security assessments, and deployment of features automatically without disrupting systems.
A SaaS deployment pipeline refers to a set of automated actions needed to transform code updates created by software developers into fully functional cloud applications. Instead of using manual server updates, it uses continuous processes of packaging and testing.
The following stages are typical of a modern delivery pipeline:
Utilizing contemporary release automation tools ensures that each release of the code meets the set quality requirements without errors.
In order to reduce risks and avoid large-scale failures in the operation of the system, engineering teams use special deployment patterns as part of their automation process:
Keeping two identical production environments (Blue and Green) enables deploying new code into the idle environment, followed by immediate transfer of traffic. In case of failure, the traffic will be redirected immediately.
The update of the system is first released to a small percentage of live users, enabling the engineers to observe the behavior of the system prior to rolling out the update to all users.
Rolling out the update in several rings beginning from staging environments, followed by early-access and finally the general customer base helps to contain any possible bugs
Shifting from manual deployment to smart deployment provides important advantages:
The automatic routing system guarantees that end users have access to updated software without any disruptions to the application itself.
Abnormal increases in error rate get automatically detected and followed by an automatic rollback procedure.
Software developers can dedicate their time to the creation of useful product functionalities rather than handling the process of manual deployments.
No modern cloud platform can afford to have failed deployments or any kind of downtime. Implementing an automated deployment pipeline builds a dependable bridge between the development team and production.
