Will the Real Continuous Delivery Please Stand Up?

/ Application Development, DevOps, Digital Transformation, Prodacity 2025
Will the Real Continuous Delivery Please Stand Up?

Continuous Delivery (CD) is often misunderstood. Many teams think it’s about speed, but Edward Hieatt made it clear at Prodacity—true CD is about consistency, predictability, and business impact.

In the 90s, software was delivered using big-bang, waterfall-style releases—long development cycles where business value wasn’t realized until the very end. But the rules of software delivery have changed. Today, success isn’t just delivering software on time—it’s about delivering software that continuously drives customer success.

From Big Bang to Continuous Flow: The Shift in Software Delivery

In traditional development:

  1. Requirements were gathered up front and locked into a product requirements document.
  2. Engineering teams built the product to spec, as cheaply and quickly as possible.
  3. QA tested it only after development was finished.
  4. The software was released in a single, large deployment.

The problem? This process didn’t allow for ongoing changes or customer feedback. Hieatt emphasized that modern software is never “done”—requirements evolve continuously, and teams need to adapt without disrupting business output.

A continuous model requires a fundamental mindset shift: instead of measuring success by deadlines, teams must measure success by how predictably they deliver business value over time.

Volatility is the Enemy

Hieatt introduced a new way to measure CD success: instead of tracking release speed, teams should measure business output consistency over time.

A perfect system would deliver constant, high business value despite evolving requirements. In reality, some fluctuation is expected—but the goal is to reduce volatility.

Why is volatility a problem?

  • Inconsistent deployments disrupt users. A lumpy delivery cadence means some months deliver a lot of value, while others see little progress.
  • High volatility means unpredictability. If teams can’t predict when business value will be delivered, they can’t effectively plan or iterate.
  • Too much variation reduces trust. If a system works smoothly one week but is full of issues the next, customers and internal stakeholders lose confidence.

The solution? Control deviations from the average output by focusing on consistency—not just velocity.

The Red Pill (or Blue) of Continuous Delivery

Once you recognize volatility in your delivery pipeline, it’s impossible to ignore. Hieatt outlined six key strategies to reduce fluctuations and increase CD effectiveness:

  1. Visible Backlog – Transparency and communication prevent sudden changes from derailing progress.
  2. Test-Driven Development (TDD) – Developers write tests before writing code to align expectations and catch issues early.
  3. Continuous Integration (CI) – Code is integrated and tested frequently to maintain system stability.
  4. Refactoring & Re-architecting – Teams must continuously evolve code to prevent outdated frameworks from slowing progress.
  5. Pain Programming – Forces developers to resolve misalignment between intent and implementation in real time.
  6. Retrospectives – Identifies team-level blockers and ensures continuous improvement.

Hieatt’s core argument? Continuous delivery isn’t just about pushing code—it’s about ensuring predictable business outcomes.

Analyst Takeaway: CD is a Business Competency, Not Just a DevOps Practice

For developers and engineering leaders, Continuous Delivery must be treated as a core competency that aligns with business goals.

Key Implications:

  • Stop focusing only on speed. The goal isn’t to push code fast—it’s to deliver value consistently.
  • Measure success by business impact, not deployment count. A stable, predictable flow of features and updates is more valuable than sporadic bursts of activity.
  • Break down silos—make every function continuous. If QA is valuable, integrate it into every stage of development instead of treating it as a separate phase.

Final Thought

The real goal of Continuous Delivery isn’t speed—it’s reliability. By focusing on consistent, predictable delivery of business value, organizations can respond to change without disrupting user experience.

When done right, Continuous Delivery becomes a culture—not just a process. Teams that embrace this approach won’t just ship faster—they’ll ship smarter and more sustainably.

Authors

  • Bringing more than a decade of varying experience crossing multiple sectors such as legal, financial, and tech, Sam Weston is an accomplished professional that excels in ensuring success across various industries. Currently, Sam serves as an Industry Analyst at Efficiently Connected where she collaborates closely in the areas of application modernization, DevOps, storage, and infrastructure. With a keen eye for research, Sam produces valuable insights and custom content to support strategic initiatives and enhance market understanding. Rooted in the fields of tech, law, finance operations and marketing, Sam provides a unique viewpoint to her position, fostering innovation and delivering impactful solutions within the industry. Sam holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems and Business Analytics from Colorado State University and is passionate about leveraging her diverse skill set to drive growth and empower clients to succeed.

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  • Paul Nashawaty, Practice Leader and Lead Principal Analyst, specializes in application modernization across build, release and operations. With a wealth of expertise in digital transformation initiatives spanning front-end and back-end systems, he also possesses comprehensive knowledge of the underlying infrastructure ecosystem crucial for supporting modernization endeavors. With over 25 years of experience, Paul has a proven track record in implementing effective go-to-market strategies, including the identification of new market channels, the growth and cultivation of partner ecosystems, and the successful execution of strategic plans resulting in positive business outcomes for his clients.

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