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Create a deployment plan

A "service management" mindset means that the devices in your organization fall into a continuum, with the software update process being constantly planned, deployed, monitored, and optimized. Once you use this process for feature updates, quality updates become a lightweight procedure that is simple and fast to execute, ultimately increasing velocity.

When you move to a service management model, you need effective ways of rolling out updates to representative groups of devices. We've found that a ring-based deployment works well for us at Microsoft and many other organizations across the globe. Deployment rings in Windows clients are similar to the deployment groups most organizations constructed for previous major revision upgrades. They're simply a method to separate devices into a deployment timeline.

At the highest level, each ring comprises a group of users or devices that receive a particular update concurrently. For each ring, IT administrators set criteria to control deferral time or adoption (completion) that should be met before deployment to the next broader ring of devices or users can occur.

A common ring structure uses three deployment groups:

  • Preview: Planning and development
  • Limited: Pilot and validation
  • Broad: Wide deployment

Note

Organizations often use different names for their rings, for example:

  • First > Fast > Broad
  • Canaries > Early Adopters > Users
  • Preview > Broad > Critical

How many rings should I have?

There are no definite rules for exactly how many rings to have for your deployments. As mentioned previously, you might want to ensure zero downtime for mission-critical devices by putting them in their own ring. If you have a large organization, you might want to consider assigning devices to rings based on geographic location. Or assign based on the size of rings so that helpdesk resources are more available. Consider the needs of your business and introduce rings that make sense for your organization.

Advancing between rings

There are basically two strategies for moving deployments from one ring to the next. One is service-based, the other project-based.

  • "Red button" (service-based): Assumes that content is good until proven bad. Content flows until an issue is discovered, at which point the IT administrator presses the "red button" to stop further distribution.
  • "Green button" (project-based): Assumes that content is bad until proven good. Once all validation has passed, the IT administrator presses the "green button" to push the content to the next ring.

When it comes to deployments, having manual steps in the process usually impedes update velocity. A "red button" strategy is better when that is your goal.

Preview ring

The purpose of the Preview ring is to evaluate the new features of the update. It's not for broad parts of the organization but is limited to the people who are responsible for knowing what is coming next, generally IT administrators. Ultimately, this phase is the time the design and planning work happens so that when the public update is shipped, you can have greater confidence in the update.

Note

Being part of the Windows Insider Program gives you early access to Windows releases so that you can use Insider Preview builds in your Preview ring to validate your apps and infrastructure, preparing you for public Windows releases.

Who goes in the Preview ring?

The Preview ring users are the most tech-savvy and resilient people, who won't lose productivity if something goes wrong. In general, these users are IT pros, and perhaps a few people in the business organization.

During your plan and preparation phases, you should focus on the following activities:

  • Work with Windows Insider Preview builds.
  • Identify the features and functionality your organization can or wants to use.
  • Establish who will use the features and how they'll benefit.
  • Understand why you're putting out the update.
  • Plan for usage feedback.

Remember, you're working with pre-release software in the Preview ring and you'll be evaluating features and testing the update for a targeted release.

Important

If you are using Windows Insider (pre-release) releases for your preview ring and you are using WSUS or Windows Update for Business, be sure to set the following policies to allow for Preview builds:

  • Manage Preview Builds: 2 - Enable preview builds • Under Branch Readiness Level, select When Preview Builds and Feature Updates are Received: 4--Windows Insider Program Slow

Limited ring

The purpose of the Limited ring is to validate the update on representative devices across the network. During this period, data, and feedback are generated to enable the decision to move forward to broader deployment. Desktop Analytics can help with defining a good Limited ring of representative devices and help monitor the deployment.

Who goes in the Limited ring?

The most important part of this phase is finding a representative sample of devices and applications across your network. If possible, all hardware and all applications should be represented. It's important that the people selected for this ring are using their devices regularly to generate the data you'll need to make a decision for broader deployment across your organization. The IT department, lab devices, and users with the most cutting-edge hardware usually don't have the applications or device drivers that are truly a representative sample of your network.

During your pilot and validation phases, you should focus on the following activities:

  • Deploy new innovations.
  • Assess and act if issues are encountered.
  • Move forward unless blocked.

When you deploy to the Limited ring, you'll be able to gather data and react to incidents happening in the environment, quickly addressing any issues that might arise. Ensure you monitor for sufficient adoption within this ring. Your Limited ring represents your organization across the board. When you achieve sufficient adoption, you can have confidence that your broader deployment will run more smoothly.

Broad deployment

Once the devices in the Limited ring have had a sufficient stabilization period, it's time for broad deployment across the network.

Who goes in the Broad deployment ring?

In most businesses, the Broad ring includes the rest of your organization. Because of the work in the previous ring to vet stability and minimize disruption (with diagnostic data to support your decision), a broad deployment can occur relatively quickly.

Note

In some instances, you might hold back on mission-critical devices (such as medical devices) until deployment in the Broad ring is complete. Get best practices and recommendations for deploying Windows client feature updates to mission-critical devices.

During the broad deployment phase, you should focus on the following activities:

  • Deploy to all devices in the organization.
  • Work through any final unusual issues that weren't detected in your Limited ring.