| The goal of the software release (which Microsoft calls SoftRel) group is to provide manufacturing with virus-free, perfectly replicated master copies of programs in a timely manner. The SoftRel group is responsible for releasing software, performing checksums on the binaries, checking image attributes, doing format analysis, and scanning for viruses. The build team needs to complete the following tasks prior to handing the bits to SoftRel: Test the product fully. It is extremely costly to recall the bits after they are handed off. Provide the proper part numbers or CD part number. Burn a master CD, DVD, or discs. Virus scan the bits. It is the product team's responsibility to ensure that the bits do not have viruses. The SoftRel team also runs a virus scan, but only as a courtesy. Ensure that all the appropriate people have signed off on the product.
Now the bits have made it to manufacturing, the source trees have been reconfigured for handling and building the new code, and the build team has announced the new policies and tools to be used. It's time to party! If you release a product every week, throw a celebration party every week. This is well practiced at Microsoft. It is usually a huge celebration with taxi rides home provided, or so it use to be in the "old days." Some groups would celebrate with trips to Vegas or Hawaii (all expenses paid of course). What surprises me is how many companies I talk to that do not celebrate at all after a release. What a drag. Microsoft Sidenote: Introducing the "Shi* It" Awards Several years ago (I believe it was in the early 1990s), Microsoft realized that it needed to recognize all the hard work that goes into a release. So the executives really hyped a cool award that they were going to give product teams every time they shipped something. There was a lot of internal marketing about this, and everyone grew excited wondering if the award would be a lot of stock, money, or something else. When the big day came for the official announcement of the Ship It award, there was a typo in the subject line of the e-mail. Apparently the t was a little too close to the p on this executive's keyboard. I'll withhold his name here, because this was probably his most embarrassing moment at Microsoft. To further this "joke," when employees found out that the Ship It award was a plaque with their name engraved on it and metal stickers that represented the products they worked on, they were very disappointed (at least the people I worked with were). The hype was too much. One group made a sculpture called "A Pile-of-Ship." Nowadays, most of this history is forgotten, and employees love the awards they receive. The awards are really a nice thing to have and really gives you a sense of accomplishment and pride that you worked on the products listed. Every company should give these types of awards just don't promote them with a lot of hype, hoopla, or typos. |
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