Remember the traditional software release cycle? Developers write code for weeks or months, then toss it over the wall to testers, who find bugs, send it back... rinse and repeat.

Remember the days of manually clicking through consoles to set up servers? Or meticulously following lengthy runbooks, hoping you didn't miss a step while configuring networks or databases? If you've worked in IT or operations, you likely know the pain: slow deployments, inconsistent environments ("it works on my machine!"), configuration drift, and the sheer terror of trying to replicate a complex setup accurately. 

So, you've built and launched an application. Congratulations! Whether it's a customer-facing mobile app, a critical internal business tool, or a complex web platform, the journey doesn't end at launch. In many ways, it's just the beginning. The ongoing processes of versioning (how you label updates) and maintenance (keeping things running smoothly and improving them) are crucial for long-term success, user satisfaction, and security.