How to decide on a software deployment strategy

All software needs regular updates to mitigate security vulnerabilities, add new features, and respond to user requests. To deliver these updates, DevOps teams need an effective deployment strategy.

An ideal deployment strategy results in seamless updates with minimal downtime and user friction. On the other hand, a bad deployment strategy can cause extended downtime and disrupt business, ruining all the work and effort put into development. 

Why you need a good software deployment strategy 

Your software deployment strategy affects every aspect of your project and can be the most significant element in whether you experience success or failure. A good strategy helps you employ secure software that integrates seamlessly with existing applications, provides an intuitive user experience, and allows developers a high degree of control to perform rollbacks as needed. 

When a software deployment goes well, users barely notice the transition from the old version to the new one, other than being impressed with new features and other upgrades. When it goes wrong — as it did for CrowdStrike on July 19, 2024 — it can cripple entire industries.

The benefits of an effective software deployment strategy include the following:

Minimal disruptions 

Developers can plan carefully to minimize service interruptions during deployment. If updates interfere with end users’ business operations, they can damage a company’s reputation and increase churn. Customers expect software to function as promised, every time. 

In extreme cases, a bad software update can bankrupt a company, as happened to Knight Capital Group in 2012. At the time, the financial services company was the largest trader in U.S. equities. A flaw in an update deployment caused an automatic buying spree in one hour that ended up costing the company $440 million and led to its acquisition by a rival firm. 

Better security

Any time developers deliver software updates, they open the door for potential security issues, such as vulnerabilities and bugs. Changes in one part of a program can impact other parts in unexpected ways, or new features may have zero-day vulnerabilities. An effective deployment strategy reduces these risks through measures such as testing and rollback mechanisms. 

Improved user experience

Few things are as frustrating as not being able to access software because of a flaw in an update that’s supposed to improve it. Development teams with a strong deployment strategy can offer improvements without frustrating their users. 

Faster time to market

With a good deployment strategy, developers can optimize fast and secure delivery of new features and functionality. Because speed to market often translates directly into a competitive advantage, this can be important for a company’s bottom line. 

Best practices for effective deployment

The deployment will be more effective if it’s planned for during the early stages of development. Some best deployment practices include:

Continuous integration/continuous delivery

Modern development teams are increasingly moving to continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) models, which automate deployment and make it a regular part of the pipeline. This model creates a flexible environment and lets developers quickly respond to user feedback and new trends. 

Microservices architecture

Microservices give developers the scalability and flexibility to break down applications into smaller chunks that are easier to control. They can then independently develop and deploy each microservice. This configurability lets developers deploy faster with fewer interruptions.

Shift left

Traditionally, companies and dev teams would delay deployment considerations until after the completion of the development process. However, taking a security-first approach means implementing testing early on so software is always in a deployable state. It also includes measures such as Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) — defining infrastructure elements in the code. This allows DevOps teams to identify misconfigurations and infrastructure problems long before deployment. 

Common deployment strategies

Common deployment strategies developers can choose between include: 

Blue-green deployment

With blue-green deployment, developers maintain both versions of the software. The old version of the software is the blue version. As the green — new — version is tested and validated, traffic is gradually switched over. 

This strategy allows DevOps teams to roll out updates. However, it’s resource-intensive and expensive, so it may not be ideal in all use cases. 

Continuous deployment

Although similar to continuous delivery, continuous deployment allows developers to release updates without human intervention. Teams implement automated testing and validation. Once the software passes, it's automatically deployed. This model can work well for teams that are rapidly releasing new features. 

Staged deployment

This phased rollout involves releasing updates to a smaller set of users before releasing it to all users. This lets developers test software updates before doing a widespread release.

Staged deployment reduces the risks by allowing teams to discover any issues on a small scale and correct them before the updates reach everyone. 

Key considerations for choosing a software deployment strategy

The best deployment strategy will depend on factors such as: 

Budget

Some of the most efficient and secure deployment strategies are also expensive to maintain. For teams with a restrictive budget, choosing a staged deployment may be a better option than a more resource-intensive method, such as a blue-green deployment. 

Performance and scalability

Applications can vary widely in their usage patterns and resource requirements. Development teams with extremely strict requirements may need to perform on-premise deployment to avoid vulnerabilities. High-usage applications with multiple updates in quick succession may benefit from continuous deployment, too. 

Application types

Different application types may respond better to one deployment strategy over another. Mobile applications often work well with continuous deployment, while web applications may respond better to a blue-green strategy. 

How Jaspersoft can help 

Jaspersoft is a comprehensive reporting and analytics software that lets developers create engaging applications for their customers through stunning data visualizations, pixel-perfect reports, and ad hoc capabilities. Our architecture-agnostic platform allows developers to deploy in any environment, including cloud and on-premise operating systems, virtualization technologies, cloud topologies, and application servers. 

Because it’s open source, Jaspersoft allows developers to customize it based on their specific needs.  Over time, they can adapt Jaspersoft to their architecture and application types. We offer dedicated options for deployment in Amazon Web Services (AWS) so developers can rapidly build visualizations by connecting to AWS data and launching within their AWS environment. 

Jaspersoft also allows developers to scale, run, and deploy software in Docker containers, simplifying container-based architecture deployment. This flexibility provides superior performance because services can scale and run independently of each other. 

We employ an API-first approach so developers can use Jaspersoft in many different areas of their applications. They can create custom dashboards, integrate directly into external business applications, or create white-label reporting tools, among many other options. 

Jaspersoft also integrates seamlessly with any type of authentication, so developers have maximum flexibility for identity and access control. With flexible pricing models, we also offer solutions for any budget.

Get started with a free 30-day trial of our commercial edition, or reach out to discuss your deployment requirements in more detail. Discover how to easily transform data into actionable insights with stunning data visualizations in any application. 

Related Resources