The IT team that validates and releases the product is delaying releases because of other priorities. What should the project manager do?

The project manager should work collaboratively with the IT team to integrate the validation and release of new features into their existing priorities. This approach fosters cooperation and helps find a mutually agreeable solution, ensuring the project's needs are met without causing undue disruption to the IT team's other critical tasks. Releasing features only when the IT team is able to validate them is passive and doesn't address the root cause of the delay. Escalating to management might be necessary if collaboration fails, but it should not be the first step as it can create conflict. Requesting immediate release and post-release validation is risky, as it bypasses critical quality gates and could lead to defects in production.