Describes software that is technically complete, tested, and ready for release to customers, though the business may choose not to deploy it immediately. It meets all quality standards and could go live without additional development work.
Emerged from Agile and Scrum terminology in the early 2000s. Combines 'potentially' from Latin 'potentia' (power, possibility) and 'shippable' from the software industry practice of 'shipping' products to customers, originally referring to physical media.
The 'potentially' part is crucial—it means the software could ship but doesn't have to! This gives product owners flexibility to time releases strategically while ensuring the development team maintains high quality standards every sprint.
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