1. A method comprising: receiving, by a software development system, data representative of an update request for a deployed software application; assigning, by the software development system, an update request identifier to the update request; displaying, by the software development system, a portal configured to facilitate management of a plurality of software development operations associated with the update request, the plurality of software development operations comprising one or more environment selection operations, one or more branch operations, one or more build operations, and one or more software release operations; receiving, by the software development system via the portal, a request input by a user to perform a software development operation included within the plurality of software development operations associated with the update request; establishing, by the software development system, a link between the requested software development operation and the update request identifier; and using, by the software development system, the established link to track the update request throughout a software development lifecycle of a software update created in response to the update request.