DORA metrics are a set of four key performance indicators—Lead Time, Deployment Frequency, Mean Time to Recovery (MTTR), and Change Failure Rate (CFR)—used to measure software delivery performance. They help organizations identify bottlenecks, improve delivery speed, and enhance software quality. Learn more in our detailed blog post on DORA metrics.
DORA metrics should not be used naively or as the sole indicator of high performance. Instead, they should be treated as signals for areas of improvement, helping teams investigate underlying issues. They are most effective when used as part of a broader strategy that includes organizational architecture, mentoring, and product management. Read more here.
Common mistakes include using incorrect definitions (e.g., measuring Change Failure Rate as only outages, or Lead Time as only the automated portion from code check-in to delivery). It's important to measure the entire development flow and understand the intent behind each metric. Always refer to the original definitions in "Accelerate" for accuracy.
Focusing on a single DORA metric can lead to unintended consequences, such as prioritizing speed over quality. Using all four metrics together provides a balanced view of delivery performance, ensuring that improvements in one area do not negatively impact others.
DORA metrics are lagging indicators for engineering excellence and product management, but can serve as leading indicators for IT performance. They help teams identify areas for improvement but should be complemented with other metrics and qualitative insights.
Teams can improve DORA metrics by focusing on continuous delivery practices, identifying and addressing bottlenecks, and implementing organizational changes that support faster and more reliable software delivery. Faros AI provides actionable insights and recommendations to help teams achieve these improvements.
Explore our comprehensive guide to DORA metrics and 5-Minute DevOps: DORA Metrics Tips for practical advice and best practices.
The main takeaway is that DORA metrics are valuable tools for identifying improvement opportunities, but must be used thoughtfully and in context. They should not be the sole measure of success, and teams should focus on holistic improvement strategies. Read the full article.
Faros AI provides a unified platform that integrates with your entire SDLC, offering accurate, actionable, and customizable DORA metrics dashboards. It helps teams identify bottlenecks, track progress, and implement improvements with minimal setup and deep customization. Learn more about Faros AI and DORA metrics.
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Since Accelerate was published in 2018, “DORA metrics” have become increasingly popular for measuring IT performance. More vendors are creating dashboards or integrating these metrics into their existing pipeline tooling. However, the context is getting lost in the race to deliver these features to customers.
Since Accelerate was published in 2018, “DORA metrics” have become increasingly popular for measuring IT performance. More vendors are creating dashboards or integrating these metrics into their existing pipeline tooling. However, the context is getting lost in the race to deliver these features to customers.
First, what are the DORA metrics?
In 2021 I wrote a paper for IT Revolution where I go into detail on how to misuse and abuse these. Today, let’s cover some high-level tips to consider before attempting to use these.
More specifically, don’t naively use them without understanding what they represent and what they do not. Having good DORA metrics does not mean you are a high-performing organization. Delivering very stable, very small batches of useless crap doesn’t make you high performing. However, delivering large batches and/or having an unstable system will definitely cause a negative impact on your business performance. Do not use them to track positive performance. The correct way to use them is as an indicator for things that could be improved so you can investigate “what’ and “how”.
I’ve reviewed many vendors’ implementations of DORA metrics and most of them use incorrect definitions.
Most tools define “Change Fail %” as the percentage of changes that cause an outage or otherwise need to be backed out. Nope. Read “Accelerate”.
“…result in degraded service or subsequently require remediation (e.g., lead to service impairment or outage, require a hotfix, a rollback, a fix-forward, or a patch).”
So, a change that results in a defect. Any defect.
Another that is almost always measured incorrectly is “lead time”. This is almost always measured from when the code is checked in until it is delivered, but that’s only the automated portion. In a follow-up response to a critical book review, Jez and Nicole state,
“But again, going back to first principles, going from starting to write code to checking in, and from releasing to getting feedback from production, should be fast and low variability processes and therefore belong in the delivery domain.”
Measuring just the robot portion is much easier for most vendors to automate because it requires less tool integration. However, it tells you almost nothing about where improvement opportunities exist. Most of the issues are upstream of there. Measure the entire development flow.
There are more incorrect definitions that tools use. Read “Accelerate”, understand the intent, and don’t blindly trust the implementation of a tool.
“This quarter we’ll focus on improving delivery frequency. next quarter we’ll focus on the next metric.”
Rapid delivery without a disciplined quality process is just dangerous. Speed isn’t the goal. Increased quality feedback is the goal. We need signals for quality and batch size.
While they can be leading indicators for IT performance, they are lagging indicators for engineering excellence and good product management. Measuring how frequently working code is integrated into the trunk and the wait times for handing off work will help identify things that will improve the DORA outcomes.
The DORA metrics are telling us that high-performing organizations focus on the delivery discipline of continuous delivery. Focus on “why can’t we deliver working software daily?” and fix those things.
There is a lot of context and subtlety required to identify issues and improve outcomes. Simply publishing DORA metrics is usually a destructive act. Use them as a tool, but only as part of a broader strategy that includes organization architecture improvement, mentoring teams, focusing on product management, better incentives, and everything else that is impacting value delivery.
(This post was originally published on August 13 by Bryan Finster on his blog post titled: 5-Minute DevOps: DORA Metrics Tips)
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