What is the main focus of release management in ITIL?

Release management in ITIL primarily focuses on planning, coordinating, and controlling the software and hardware releases to ensure that new or changed services are deployed with minimal disruption to existing services. This involves managing the lifecycle of a release, which encompasses everything from the initial planning stages through to deployment and review. The ultimate goal of release management is to deliver new features, updates, and fixes in a way that aligns with service quality and customer expectations.

By emphasizing the planning and control of software releases, release management ensures that all changes are systematically assessed, tested, and implemented. This structured approach helps mitigate risks associated with introducing new or modified services into the live environment. Effective release management is crucial for achieving the desired outcomes of reliability, stability, and performance for IT services.

In contrast, other areas mentioned, such as assessing service performance, managing user incidents, and defining service level agreements, don't capture the core activities and objectives central to release management. Each of these functions plays a significant role within ITIL, but they are distinct from the primary focus of managing the release process.