Economic Contracts in Release Engineering: The Paved Road Approach to Software Delivery Governance

Abstract

The paved road idea revolutionizes software delivery governance to form an economic contract between platform and product teams, balancing between velocity and reliability. This article provides a default path of quick delivery and uses proportional controls only in case of deviation, unlike the traditional models, where the safety and speed are considered opposing forces. Organizations gain predictability and automation by transforming subjective decisions on releases into quantifiable policies, which are beneficial to all stakeholders. The minimal viable guardrail system - provenance + reversibility + blast radius control + observability readiness + change budget - offers progressively implemented implementation routes that offer value immediately at each phase. Declarative intent specification and quantification of risk have enabled teams to be provided with a clear set of standards that both speed up delivery patterns and ensure stability of the system, successfully addressing the underlying conflict between the rate of delivery and operational safety.