Using the DORA Metrics with Software Engineering Intelligence Platforms

DORA metrics are used by engineering leaders, VPs of engineering, or engineering managers to understand how efficiently their teams are working. These metrics include aspects like how frequently new code is rolled out, the time taken to implement changes, the frequency of issues that arise from such changes, and the time required to address such problems. 

The leaders will likely discover areas their team can enhance through these measurements. For example, if new releases frequently generate issues, the team may require more automated testing. Changes made over a long period may indicate that the team's development process is slow. DORA metrics assist one in determining progress over a given period and making data-backed decisions on how best to enhance the software development process.

The Early Research and Origins Of DORA Metrics

At the beginning of the 2010s - Nicole Forsgren, Gene Kim, and Jez Humble—sought to understand how to support teams involved in software development. They also looked at high-performing teams and determined what factors contributed to their high performance, so they developed DORA (DevOps Research and Assessment) to assess how well teams delivered software. 

This led to four crucial DORA metrics:

• Deployment Frequency (how frequently they post new code)
• Lead Time (how long it takes them to update the work)
• Change Failure Rate (how often updates lead to issues)
• Mean Time to Recovery (how long the problems take to be addressed.)

These metrics help engineering leaders gain insights into their team’s performance and identify improvement opportunities.

What are the DORA Metrics?

DevOps teams use DORA Metrics to assess their performance. There are four main DORA Metrics: how frequently new work is delivered, how quickly work is delivered, how frequently the release fails, and how long it takes to address these failures.

• The Deployment frequency measures how often a particular team releases its code to production.
• Lead time for changes quantifies the average time a code change takes to be released.
• The change failure rate indicates the proportion of software releases that result in problems. 
• Mean time to recover refers to the period taken to resolve an issue after a release.

These DevOps metrics (KPIs) help the team identify patterns and optimize their work processes and efficiency (for example, a team that experiences many releases could benefit from more automatic testing.)

Importance Of DORA Metrics In Measuring Team Performance 

DevOps teams use DORA Metrics to evaluate the performance of software releases. These metrics focus on four key questions: how frequently code is being deployed, how long it takes for code changes to be deployed, how often these code changes introduce problems, and how long it takes to resolve these problems. 

Tracking these questions aids teams in identifying where they may enhance their work. For example, a team that deploys work infrequently but experiences many issues may require more testing before going to production. DORA Metrics also enable organizations to benchmark one team against the entire industry. This goes a long way in enhancing the company's general software development methods.

The 4 Key DORA Metrics To Define Performance:

• Deployment Frequency:

Deployment frequency is about how often a team releases new work. This shows how well a team can deliver working software quickly. Teams that have a high deployment frequency release new code often, maybe even a few times every day. This lets them fix bugs and add new features quickly.

Teams with a low deployment frequency release code less often, like only a few times a month or even a year. This can mean features are outdated or bugs stay around long. Tracking deployment frequency helps teams find ways to make their development process smoother and release code more often, as elite performance teams have a Deployment Frequency of a few times per day.

• Lead Time for Changes:

Lead time for changes is the time it typically takes for a code change to go from being written to being released to users. This shows how well a team can move work through the development process. Teams with a short lead time for changes can quickly adjust their software, allowing them to respond to users' needs and fix problems faster. 

Teams with a long lead time for changes might take weeks or even months to release a code change. This can slow things down and make it hard to keep up with what users want. By tracking lead time for changes, teams can find places where their development process gets stuck and work to speed things up.

• Change Failure Rate:

The change failure rate is the percentage of releases that cause issues after deployment. This shows how well a team can release stable and working software. Further, teams with a lower change failure rate have a high success rate for their deployments, indicating that the release usually goes through without much problem. 

It shows that teams with a high change failure rate experience issues once the code is live. This can infuriate and create additional work for the design/development team to address these problems. Tracking change failure rates assists various teams in enhancing their testing and quality assurance to guarantee the release of great software.

• Mean Time to Recovery

Recovery time is how long it usually takes to restore after a failure in the deployment process. This reveals the extent to which a team can localize and correct issues in production as and when they arise. Teams with a short recovery time can quickly solve problems and get their software back dashing. This reduces the time users take to wait and ensures that they are most happy. 

Some teams might take hours or even days to resolve an issue because restoring it can take a long time. This may cause users a lot of inconvenience and loss of time. Measuring mean time to recovery enables teams to manage problems better and recover from failures more quickly.

Tips and Best Practices To Optimize DORA Metrics

• Invest in Automation:

With manual tasks, the development process takes longer and may be hindered by delays and mistakes. Developers can spend more time on challenging and innovative work by automating testing, and deployment tasks. This can significantly enhance the frequency with which new work is released since it eases the process of releasing new code. Further, it minimizes errors resulting from human intervention, hence taking a shorter duration for code changes to be implemented.

• Break Down Silos:

Coordination and collaboration are crucial aspects of a software delivery process. If development, operations, and other teams are distinct, then information divides can appear. These barriers cause delays and issues because teams can be unaware of what work others are doing or what issues may arise. 

By breaking these barriers and promoting teamwork, teams can quickly spot problems and work to correct them. This proactive approach can help minimize how often releases lead to issues to find them during the development phase. Also, the time to repair a problem can be condensed when it happens due to better collaboration between teams that allows them to find and solve the problem.

• Implement Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD):

CI/CD includes features of assembling code changes, testing them thoroughly, and automatically releasing them into the production environment. This allows teams to deliver code frequently in small batches rather than large lump sums. Taking more frequent but more minor releases is easier to test and monitor. 

Hence, any issues will likely be detected early, reducing the likelihood of releases leading to problems. CI/CD practices minimize the lead time for changes because they allow developers to auto-generate the entire cycle of creating code and delivering it to users.

• Prioritize Quality Assurance:

Providing high-quality software whenever possible is crucial to minimize problems within the production process and ensure user satisfaction. Some measures that can be implemented in quality assurance include testing automation, code reviews, and other procedures to help eliminate glitches before they reach the end users. This directly translates to the frequency of releases leading to issues as it guarantees that only stable and reliable code is released. 

Relying on quality assurance decreases the number of fixes after the release, which favorably affects the time it takes to fix a problem. If any issues are experienced, they are likely less severe and less time-consuming; it will only take a short time to get the users back into action.

• Foster a Culture of Measurement and Feedback:

DORA Metrics are strictly helpful when employed as a process for constantly improving. When such metrics are collected and analyzed periodically, it helps the teams understand the development process. Such data can assist them in acknowledging their strengths and their shortcomings. 

Positive feedback from team members and users can be very valuable in getting feedback from different angles during the development process. A measurement and feedback culture could help constantly improve all four DORA metrics. In this way, teams increase the efficiency and efficacy of the development process by continually assessing their performance and striving for enhancement.

The Benefits Of Using DORA Metrics To Assess DevOps Performance

• See Things Clearly and Be Open:

DORA Metrics represent common indicators to evaluate DevOps performance. This allows individual teams to follow their progress and see how they compare to other organizations and businesses. It makes it easier to identify bottlenecks in the development process where progress may be poor. For example, a team may have goals for how often they release code and realize they only do it a few times a month. This might mean some bottlenecks in the development process require attention.

• Get Software to End Users Faster:

One significant advantage of employing DORA Metrics is discovering how to quickly deliver software updates. By observing how often they release and change code, teams can determine how quickly new features and bug fixes reach users. These insights assist them in fine-tuning their development cycle and removing inefficiencies that are otherwise present and unnecessary. Reduced time to market gives businesses competitive advantages and ways to meet users’ demands.

• Better Quality Software:

Measuring DORA Metrics is also critical in enhancing the quality of software releases. Tracking how often releases result in issues in the production process provides insight into areas requiring enhancements. This information assists them in directing their effort toward improving their testing and quality assurance to release stable and functioning quality software. A lower change failure rate means fewer failures and issues, which improves the overall experience.

• Bounce Back From Problems Faster:

DORA Metrics also aids in increasing a team’s capability to address issues in production. See where to improve. Teams can track how long it takes to fix problems and get their software back up and running. This assists them in devising improved procedures for handling the issues and finding ways to solve them more quickly. Reducing the time required to restore reduces the time users wait and keeps business going smoothly.

• Always Get Better:

DORA Metrics are most valuable when used in a system that never ceases to improve. With these aspects tracked and analyzed frequently, teams can recognize their strengths and shortcomings. This means that teams can make sound decisions on improving their development process based on such data. The growth-oriented culture means that teams are always focused on being better, creating superior software, and addressing issues more effectively.

• Better Teamwork and Communication:

DORA Metrics can help different teams involved in the software development process communicate and work together better. By tracking these metrics together, development, operations, and other teams can all understand how their work affects overall performance. This shared understanding can lead to better collaboration and a more efficient development process.

The Challenges of DORA Metrics

• Not Enough Details:

DORA Metrics are based on numbers, but these numbers do not tell a complete story. Fewer releases can also be due to less frequent product releases rather than slow product development. Moreover, it is possible that several ineffective releases were due to circumstances beyond the team’s control, including reliance on other companies’ software or issues with computer hardware. It is crucial to comprehend why the numbers are what they are to make sound decisions. This is important so that you do not make changes influenced by wrong information.

• Speed Before Quality:

DORA Metrics aims at speed and throughput but should also ensure the software is good. Two dangerous goals are trying to push out more releases or decrease the time it takes to make changes to the code. Controlling velocity is necessary to ensure users' satisfaction and avoid having to make corrections later, which may be costly.

• Measuring Can Be Hard:

It is challenging to obtain accurate measurement values for DORA Metrics. How a ‘release’ or a ‘failure’ is defined can also be relative to the team or the organization. Furthermore, data gathering and analysis can be time-consuming and require specific platforms, like software engineering intelligence platforms (SEIPs).

• Teams Might Resist Change:

While using DORA Metrics, teams usually have to cooperate differently. Transitioning from one team working independently to another in unison is difficult since the teams have to work in different environments. Leadership is needed to maintain a culture of measurement and continuous improvement, and everyone has to be seen as necessary for the purpose of being acceptable.

Benefits of Software Engineering Intelligence Platforms (SEIPs)

• Enhanced Visibility and Streamlined Data Collection:

Previously, gathering data for DORA metrics could have taken a lot of time and effort. SEIPs gather data from your tool stack throughout development, providing real-time data. 

This eliminates pre-data entry and ensures consistency in measurements every time they are taken. It is helpful to observe how frequently you deliver code and whether there are opportunities for optimization in an accurate way.

• Encourage Measurement and Always Getting Better:

SEIPs ensure that DORA Metrics are available to all team members and foster a culture of measurement and improvement. By presenting metrics in dashboards and reports, the SEIPs help everyone understand how contributions affect performance. 

This openness fosters collaborations and enables people to develop solutions for reducing DORA Metrics. For instance, a SEIP may show how frequently a team deploys against how often similar teams release code. This helps the team assess its performance against similar teams and discover where it can enhance its release speed.

• Work with Many Different Tools:

Many SEIPs can work with popular development tools and platforms throughout the software development lifecycle. This allows for a smooth flow of information between tools and eliminates the need to transfer any data manually. This allows the SEIP to automatically collect data on code changes, builds, and deployments, providing a complete view of the development process.

Waydev and DORA Metrics

Tools like Waydev and other SEIPs such as Jellyfish, Code Climate Velocity, GetDX and LinearB can help track and optimize various aspects of development. But metrics alone aren’t enough. Good management is essential for interpreting data and supporting your team.

Waydev is a software engineering intelligence platform that gives you a clear view of your software development process, including the DORA Metrics. It leverages insights from your engineering stack (platforms like GitHub, GitLab, and Jira) to improve quality, accelerate delivery, enhance planning, and boost hygiene!

Speed Up Releases and Get More Stable Software with DORA Metrics

Is your software development process slow? DORA Metrics can help! These metrics are like a map showing how to improve your development process. By tracking critical measurements like how often you release software and how usually those releases cause problems, you can find areas that slow you down, improve your code, and ultimately get new features to users faster.  Start using DORA Metrics and see your development team work quicker and better.