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Guidance For Delivery Teams

Introduction

Delivery teams play a critical role in enabling successful SRE services.

SRE does not begin when a platform is handed over for operational support. The decisions made during discovery, design and delivery directly influence how effectively a platform can be operated throughout its lifetime.

A platform that is production ready, observable, supportable and well documented provides a smoother transition into SRE and reduces operational risk after go-live.

This section provides delivery teams with guidance on the areas of the SRE framework that apply to their responsibilities.

Delivery and SRE Partnership

SRE and delivery teams have different responsibilities, but both contribute to the long-term success of a platform.

Delivery teams are responsible for building platforms that can transition successfully into operational ownership.

SRE is responsible for operating and improving those platforms once ownership transfers.

A successful transition requires collaboration throughout the delivery lifecycle rather than a handover activity immediately before go-live.

Delivery teams should consider SRE requirements during:

  • Discovery.
  • Solution design.
  • Development.
  • Testing.
  • Deployment planning.
  • Production readiness activities.
  • Transition into managed service.

The earlier SRE considerations are incorporated, the easier it is to deliver a platform that can be operated effectively.

Areas Relevant to Delivery Teams

Production Readiness

A platform being technically complete does not automatically mean it is ready for production operation.

Delivery teams should understand the production readiness expectations required before a platform transitions into SRE.

This includes areas such as:

  • Observability.
  • Monitoring and alerting.
  • Logging.
  • Security.
  • Disaster recovery.
  • Backup and restoration.
  • Testing.
  • Documentation.
  • Operational procedures.
  • Support processes.

Production readiness should be treated as a delivery requirement, not an activity completed immediately before handover.

Related documentation:

Early SRE Engagement

SRE should be engaged early enough to influence decisions that affect long-term operation.

Late involvement often means operational issues are identified when delivery timelines are fixed and remediation becomes more difficult.

Early SRE involvement helps teams consider:

  • Operational requirements.
  • Supportability.
  • Observability.
  • Reliability.
  • Service ownership.
  • Production expectations.

Related documentation:

Transition into SRE

Transitioning a platform into SRE requires more than a technical handover.

SRE needs sufficient time and information to understand the platform before becoming fully accountable for operating it.

Delivery teams should support:

  • Knowledge transfer.
  • Architecture walkthroughs.
  • Documentation reviews.
  • Operational demonstrations.
  • Access provisioning.
  • Hypercare activities.
  • Resolution of outstanding readiness issues.

The transition period should allow SRE to gain confidence in operating the platform while delivery teams still have the knowledge required to support the transition.

Related documentation:

Operational Requirements During Delivery

Operational requirements should be considered alongside functional requirements.

Delivery teams should ensure platforms are designed and built with the operational lifecycle in mind.

Key areas include:

Observability

SRE needs sufficient visibility into platform behaviour.

This includes:

  • Application metrics.
  • Infrastructure metrics.
  • Logging.
  • Dashboards.
  • Alerts.
  • Troubleshooting information.

Related documentation:

Resilience and Recovery

Platforms should have defined and tested recovery capabilities.

This includes:

  • Backup processes.
  • Disaster recovery procedures.
  • Recovery testing.
  • Dependency mapping.
  • Failure scenarios.

Related documentation:

Documentation

Operational knowledge must be transferred from delivery teams to SRE.

Documentation should include:

  • Architecture information.
  • Deployment procedures.
  • Known issues.
  • Dependencies.
  • Operational procedures.
  • Troubleshooting guidance.

Related documentation:

Working With SRE During Delivery

Delivery teams should engage SRE as a partner rather than a final approval stage.

Effective collaboration includes:

  • Involving SRE in relevant technical discussions.
  • Sharing planned platform changes.
  • Discussing operational risks early.
  • Reviewing production readiness throughout delivery.
  • Addressing identified gaps before handover.

SRE assessments should be viewed as an opportunity to identify risks before they affect production operation.

Common Delivery Pitfalls

The following patterns commonly create challenges during transition into SRE:

Bringing SRE in too late

When SRE involvement begins close to go-live, there is often insufficient time to address operational gaps.

Treating production readiness as optional

A platform that works functionally but lacks operational maturity creates additional risk after handover.

Limited knowledge transfer

A single handover session does not provide enough context for SRE to confidently operate a complex platform.

Unclear ownership after go-live

Responsibilities between delivery teams, SRE and client teams should be understood before operational ownership transfers.

Uncommunicated changes

SRE must understand planned releases, infrastructure changes and operational events to provide effective support.

Delivery Team Checklist

Before transition into SRE, delivery teams should confirm:

  • SRE has been engaged early enough to provide operational input.
  • Production readiness requirements have been reviewed.
  • Monitoring and observability are implemented.
  • Disaster recovery processes have been tested.
  • Operational documentation is complete.
  • Required access has been provided.
  • Knowledge transfer has taken place.
  • Support responsibilities are understood.
  • Outstanding risks have identified owners.
  • Hypercare activities are planned.

Summary

Delivery teams have a significant influence on the long-term success of SRE services.

The quality of the transition into SRE is determined by decisions made throughout the delivery lifecycle, not only by the activities performed during handover.

By involving SRE early, building production-ready platforms and supporting a structured transition, delivery teams enable services that are easier to operate, more reliable and better positioned for long-term success.