Who Should Approve a New Release or Hotfix?

🔄 New Feature Release

• Approval Required From:
  • ✅ Product Manager – Confirms feature readiness and user value.
  • ✅ Tech Lead or Engineering Manager – Confirms code quality and test coverage.
  • ✅ Principal DevOps – Confirms CI/CD pipeline passed, infra/security checks completed.
• Optional:
  • 🛡️ Security/Compliance Officer – For sensitive or regulated releases.
  • 📋 QA Lead – If manual testing or sign-off is still required in staging.

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🔥 Hotfix (Production Bug or Security Patch)

• Approval Required From:
  • ✅ Tech Lead or Senior Developer – Verifies fix is minimal, safe, and tested.
  • ✅ Principal DevOps – Ensures CI/CD passes, patch is secure and tracked.
  • ✅ Product Owner or Incident Commander – Confirms urgency and business impact.
• Note:
  • Hotfixes may bypass normal release cycles, but must be logged and post-reviewed (retrospective / RCA).
  • If a change advisory board (CAB) exists, they may be notified or consulted post-release.