Over the last couple of months this topic has come up several times and it has always sparked a deep conversation on what should be included and covered by the process.
Jim Crowley has captured this in an awesome post and great read. Very detailed!
Thanks, Jim!
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sharepointdeveloperdocs/archive/2010/11/17/application-lifecycle-management-in-microsoft-sharepoint-2010.aspx