Log in Free trial Join a demoDemo

PI planning vs. release planning

Last updated: September 2024

Your day, your week, your month ... even your year. 🎶 Product teams are always planning something — from long-term strategy to the next product launch and all that happens in between. With so much going on at once, sometimes plans get muddled. This is especially true when multiple plans seem to overlap.

PI plans and release plans are examples of this. On the surface, they appear similar. Both involve cross-functional product development teams planning to deliver large bodies of work. Both happen within set short-term time frames. And if you are a product manager at an enterprise organization, you might be involved in both types of plans.

But there are a number of key differences that define PI planning and release planning, including the role product managers play in each. It is important to understand these nuances so you can be confident in contributing to both planning types.

Set winning plans with Aha! software — free for 30 days.

Read next

How to build a brilliant roadmap

How to build a brilliant roadmap

You need a clear overview of what you want to achieve — and a plan to reach those goals.

An image showing top capabilities in Aha! roadmap software

Latest functionality in Aha! Roadmaps

See what's new in Aha! Roadmaps: the complete product management solution.

Product roadmap large

Product roadmap template

Use this template to showcase how planned work aligns with strategy.

An example of a Gantt-style release plan with phases and milestones created in Aha! Roadmaps

Related:

Now, what are the differences between PI planning and release planning?

As we mentioned earlier, PI planning and release planning are alike in a general sense. Both involve agile product teams, cross-functional collaboration, and near-term plans. And both share the broad goal of delivering incremental value to customers and the business.

The differences become clearer when you dig into what is actually being planned and who is doing the planning. Here are a few critical things that set the two types of plans apart:

Scope of work

PI planning is all about engineering work. Although other stakeholders might have input on priorities, the goal is to plan development tasks for the next several weeks.
Release planning is more cross-functional. The scope often includes work across product management, marketing, engineering, operations, and more. If you do both types of planning on your team, that means the PI plan might actually fall under the broader release plan — the functionality you build is just one piece of the overall experience you provide.

'How' vs. 'when'

PI planning emphasizes how agile teams will achieve PI objectives over the course of multiple sprints by communicating priorities, estimating capacity, and aligning the ART around the work to be done.
Release planning focuses more on when the enhancements will be ready to deliver. It factors in all the cross-team efforts, potential roadblocks, and milestones along the way.

Product manager's role

PI planning is an event where product managers play an important (but supporting) role. You ensure the backlog is prioritized and ready to go, you present the product vision in the early sessions, and you help everyone keep product goals top of mind through the entire process. The agile development teams within the ART do the bulk of the actual planning (after all, it is their work that makes up the PI plan).
Release planning is a core product management responsibility. You lead the launch effort by defining which features to build and the overall implementation timeline (often in the form of a release roadmap or Gantt chart). You also create a repeatable standardized process for planning releases. All of this work incorporates input and effort from other teams, but you are at the helm.

The following table breaks down some additional differences between PI planning and release planning, offering a closer look at the specifics:

	PI planning	Release planning
Purpose	To align on shared objectives and agile development plans for the upcoming PI	To define the cross-functional work required to deliver product enhancements to customers by a target launch date
Timing	Every eight to 12 weeks at the start of each new PI	Based on release cadence (e.g., weekly, monthly, quarterly) or estimated time for work to be complete
Roles involved	ART Release train engineer (RTE) Product managers System architects/engineers Business owners	Core product team (product management, UX, engineering) Product marketing managers Project managers, program managers, and/or release managers Other internal stakeholders (sales, support, finance, legal, etc.)
Key activities	Present goals and priorities. Break out to draft PI objectives and plans. Pull prioritized features into sprints on the program board. Review and adjust the PI plan. Hold a confidence vote to ensure support. Engage in a retrospective.	Review goals and strategic initiatives. Determine scope and timeline for delivery. Prioritize features and requirements for the release. Discuss capacity, milestones, and dependencies. Decide on the go-to-market strategy. Create and maintain a release roadmap.
Key artifacts	PI objectives Program board Sprint planning boards	Release roadmap or Gantt chart Product launch plan or checklist Release notes
Best suited for	Enterprise organizations with numerous agile teams Teams following SAFe methodology Teams working in industries with strict product regulations	Product development teams of any size

Need examples? Explore PI planning and release planning in Aha! software.

It always helps to see things in action. You can create both PI plans and release plans in Aha! software. Check out the resources below to see real examples of what this looks like. (Even if you do not use our software, this can help you get more context on how product teams manage the details of these planning processes — from whiteboarding priorities to building roadmaps and moving work through development.)

PI planning with Aha! software