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Product concepts

What is DORA Metrics?

DORA Metrics are a set of four key performance indicators used to measure the effectiveness and health of software development teams. Developed by the DevOps Research and Assessment (DORA) group, these metrics focus on balancing delivery speed with system stability to identify process bottlenecks and improve overall team performance.

When to use it

Teams should use DORA Metrics when they need objective data to assess their DevOps maturity or identify where development workflows are stalling. They are particularly useful for engineering managers who want to track improvements over time and ensure that increasing deployment speed doesn't lead to frequent production outages. These metrics help move team discussions away from subjective opinions and toward data-driven process improvements.

Example

A SaaS engineering team tracks their metrics over Q2 and finds they have a Deployment Frequency of once per week with a Lead Time for Changes of 10 days. By identifying manual QA as a bottleneck and implementing automated testing, they increase their Deployment Frequency to daily by Q3. Simultaneously, they reduce their Lead Time to 2 days while keeping their Change Failure Rate below 5%, demonstrating increased throughput without compromising stability.

How Planet Roadmap helps with DORA Metrics

Planet Roadmap features a Sprint view and Kanban boards that track the lifecycle of every task, providing the underlying data needed to calculate lead times. The OKR tree capability also allows teams to set specific performance targets for these metrics and link them to broader product goals.

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FAQ

How do DORA metrics differ from individual productivity metrics like lines of code?
DORA metrics focus on team outcomes and the flow of value to users, whereas individual metrics like lines of code are often misleading and encourage poor behaviors. DORA provides a holistic view of the delivery pipeline's health rather than judging an individual's output.
What is a 'good' Change Failure Rate for a high-performing team?
According to DORA research, elite performers typically maintain a Change Failure Rate between 0% and 15%. The focus should be on maintaining a low rate while simultaneously increasing deployment frequency to ensure speed doesn't compromise quality.

Related terms

KPIVelocitySprintKanbanSprint RetrospectiveDefinition of DoneRelease NotesChangelogLagging IndicatorLeading Indicator

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