RACI matrix template for a software release
Six rows covering a release from scope to announcement, across five roles. The accountable owner changes three times along the way, which is the whole reason for filling one in.
| Task or deliverable | Product owner | Engineering lead | Developer | QA lead | Release manager |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Define the release scope | AR | C | I | C | I |
| Write and review the code | I | A | R | C | I |
| Test the release candidate | I | A | C | R | I |
| Sign off on quality | A | C | I | R | I |
| Deploy to production | I | C | R | I | A |
| Announce the release | AR | I | I | I | C |
LegendRResponsibleAAccountableCConsultedIInformed
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How to adapt it
- Who uses it: product and engineering teams running a scheduled release, where the argument is almost always about who signs off on quality.
- The decision it forces: separating the person who owns the scope from the person who owns the act of shipping. Many teams find they had never named the second one.
- What to change first: if your release passes a change-approval board, add it as a role. It nearly always holds an Accountable somewhere.
Other RACI Matrix Builder templates
- Marketing campaignA campaign from brief to reporting, with legal review treated as a role rather than an afterthought. Five roles, six rows.
- Hiring processOne requisition from approval to offer, across the hiring manager, the recruiter, the panel, HR and finance. Headcount approval sits with finance, which is where it usually sits in practice.
- Construction projectDesign through handover, with the client holding approval on the drawings and on the final sign-off. Five roles, six rows, close to how a small works package actually runs.
- Event planningAn event from venue booking to budget reconciliation, across five roles. Finance owns the last row, which is the row most plans forget.
- Compliance auditAn audit cycle from scope to remediation sign-off, with the executive sponsor accountable for accepting residual risk. Five roles, six rows.
Related reading
- How to build a RACI matrixA working method for building a responsibility assignment matrix: what each letter actually means, how to size the rows, the two rules that make it useful, and the four ways it usually fails.
- RACI, DACI or RAPID: which one your team actually needsThree responsibility frameworks, three different problems. What each one was designed to fix, where each one fails, and a short test for choosing between them.