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What is continuous delivery?

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Overview

Continuous delivery (CD) is foundational to both DevOps and agile development. It bridges the gap between code and production, enabling rapid, reliable delivery in iterative cycles. Whether you’re a startup or a global enterprise, adopting continuous delivery lays the foundation for sustainable innovation, better user experiences, and long-term business agility.

Continuous delivery

What is continuous delivery and how does it work?

Continuous delivery is a software engineering practice that enables development teams to build, test, and release software in fast, automated cycles. The goal is simple but powerful: ensure that every code change is always in a deployable state, ready to be released into production with minimal manual effort or risk.

By eliminating traditional bottlenecks and reducing reliance on manual processes, continuous delivery allows teams to deliver value to users faster, more frequently, and with greater confidence.

What are the key components of continuous delivery?

The key components of a continuous delivery pipeline include:

  • Continuous integration (CI): Code is merged, built, and tested automatically.
  • Automated testing: Functional testing, performance engineering, and security tests run early and often.
  • Deployment automation: Code is released to environments with minimal manual intervention.
  • Infrastructure as code: Environments are consistent, version-controlled, and reproducible.
Together, these practices support faster innovation, higher quality, and stronger delivery discipline.

Continuous delivery also enables safe experimentation at scale. Teams can:

  • Run A/B tests or gradual rollouts using feature flags.
  • Monitor user behavior and gather feedback in real time.
  • Roll back changes quickly if issues are detected.

This empowers product teams to innovate faster while minimizing risk to the user experience.

Who needs continuous delivery?

Modern continuous delivery platforms offer role-specific views and insights:

  • Developers: Track build and test results.
  • Product managers: Monitor feature adoption and release velocity.
  • Business leaders: See delivery KPIs and risk indicators.
These tailored experiences help everyone stay informed and aligned on what matters most.

Continuous delivery also supports transparent, continuous communication through:

  • Real-time release management.
  • Clear visibility into delivery status and blockers.
  • Timely updates to customers, partners, and internal stakeholders.

This transparency builds trust and ensures alignment across the organization.

What are the benefits of continuous delivery?

Continuous delivery enables:

  • Faster response to customer needs.
  • Higher product quality and stability.
  • Greater visibility and control over the release process.
  • More efficient use of developer and operations resources.

It’s not just about speed. It’s about sustainable, scalable delivery at enterprise velocity.

 Reducing time-to-market with automated delivery

Continuous delivery helps organizations significantly shorten software development lifecycles (SDLC). With automated workflows and integrated feedback loops, teams can:

  • Deliver new features and fixes faster.
  • Continuously adapt to market conditions and user expectations.
  • Minimize the lag between development and deployment.
  • Release with consistency—even at scale.

In practice, this accelerates innovation and gives businesses a critical edge in fast-moving markets.

 Improving software quality management and release confidence

A strong continuous delivery pipeline is built around automation, consistency, and early feedback. This leads to:

  • Early detection of bugs via automated testing.
  • Lower risk of production issues through repeatable workflows.
  • Easier rollback and recovery in case of problems.
  • More stable, secure, and reliable software.

By shifting testing and validation earlier in the process, continuous delivery promotes a “build quality in” mindset across the development lifecycle for superior software quality management and enterprise DevOps.

 Enhancing team collaboration and delivery efficiency

Continuous delivery aligns cross-functional teams—developers, testers, and business leaders—around a shared delivery model. Benefits include:

  • Tighter collaboration and faster feedback loops.
  • Less manual work and fewer handoffs.
  • Shared accountability for release readiness.
  • Clearer insights into delivery health and blockers.

The result is a more productive, efficient, and motivated engineering culture.

How does OpenText help with continuous delivery?

OpenText, a leader in information management, offers several solutions that support and enhance continuous delivery practices.

OpenText Application Delivery Management

OpenText™ Application Delivery Management supports the entire application delivery lifecycle, including:

  • Requirements management.
  • Test management and automation.
  • Performance testing and monitoring.

Moreover, it enables teams to deliver high-quality software faster by providing end-to-end visibility and traceability throughout the development process.

OpenText Software Delivery Management

OpenText™ Software Delivery Management is a comprehensive Agile and DevOps solution that helps organizations streamline their release processes. It provides:

  • Centralized release planning and coordination.
  • Automated deployment workflows.
  • Real-time visibility into release status and progress.

By using OpenText Software Delivery Management, teams can achieve faster, more reliable releases while maintaining control and compliance.

OpenText Core Software Delivery Platform

OpenText™ Core Software Delivery Platform offers advanced analytics and reporting capabilities for DevOps teams. It helps organizations:

  • Identify bottlenecks in the delivery pipeline.
  • Track key performance indicators (KPIs) for continuous delivery.
  • Make data-driven decisions to improve processes.

By leveraging these insights, teams can continuously optimize their continuous delivery practices for better efficiency and outcomes.

Ready to manage your continuous delivery pipeline?

Continuous delivery is more than a technical practice; it’s a strategic capability. It enables organizations to move faster, improve software quality, and stay adaptable in a rapidly changing landscape.

Discover how you can easily manage your CI/CD pipeline with OpenText Core Software Delivery Platform today.

Resources

  • Pick n Pay

    Retailer enhances visibility, traceability, quality, release velocity, and test automation across platforms and devices with OpenText™ Core Software Delivery Platform (ValueEdge)

  • Global B2B financial services company

    Financial solutions provider raises the quality of software development with OpenText™ Core Software Delivery Platform

  • MTN South Africa

    Integrated end-to-end application delivery solution supports digital transformation for optimal customer experience

  • Santander Brazil

    Delivering cutting-edge banking services to customers with rapid, reliable, agile software development powered by OpenText™ Software Delivery Management

  • Leading Las Vegas hospitality company

    A large entertainment complex in Las Vegas saves time and gains visibility in application lifecycle management by upgrading to OpenText™ Core Software Delivery Platform

Related products

OpenText™ Software Delivery Management

Supercharge your DevOps pipeline with top-tier quality and insight

OpenText™ Application Quality Management

Improve visibility into the application lifecycle and simplify reporting

See all related products

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