An approval is a mechanism used to control environments, regardless of quality (status) considerations. Approvals are attached to phases. A release that requires approval cannot proceed with a phase until approval is granted. Approvers are usually designated by user role. Any user with the designated role can respond to an approval request. If, for example, the QA phase requires approval by the release manager, the release will not be able to proceed until approval is granted by someone with the release manager role. Specific users can also be designated to approve.
Note
If a scheduled deployment requiring approval reaches its start time without having received approval, the phase will not proceed and will be considered rejected by the approver.