After development, the release request enters the Testing stage. In this stage, the prerequisites (or processes involved) built for the release, including the software build, test environment, documentation, and more are tested for common bugs and functionality issues by the Quality Assurance (QA) team. The release processes are tested to make sure that they meet the requirements outlined in the release plan without compromising on the quality standards.
Testing could take many iterations, but ensure that you meet the deadlines set for the release. All issues found during the QA testing must be carefully documented to follow up on the resolution. After the issues are prioritized based on their business impact, the release request will be sent back to the Development stage for fixing showstoppers and other high-priority issues. Alternatively, you can fix these issues with the release request in the Testing stage. The QA team approves the release after ensuring that the processes involved function as expected.
Once the release is approved internal testing, the release package will be staged for User Acceptance Testing (UAT).