The DORA metrics, also known as the DORA (DevOps Research and Assessment) metrics or Accelerate metrics, are a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure the effectiveness of DevOps practices within an organization. These metrics were introduced in the book “Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps” by Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble, and Gene Kim. The DORA metrics help teams and organizations assess their DevOps maturity and identify areas for improvement. The four primary DORA metrics are:

1. Deployment Frequency: This metric measures how often an organization successfully deploys code changes to production or a production-like environment. It is typically expressed as the frequency of deployments per unit of time (e.g., per day or per week). A higher deployment frequency indicates the ability to release changes more frequently and respond to customer needs faster.

2. Lead Time for Changes: Lead time for changes measures the time it takes to implement a code change from the initial idea or request to its deployment in production. It includes activities like coding, testing, review, and deployment. Reducing lead time helps in delivering value to customers more quickly.

3. Change Failure Rate: This metric assesses the quality of code changes by measuring the percentage of changes that result in production incidents or require rollback due to issues or defects. A lower change failure rate indicates that code changes are less likely to introduce problems into the production environment.

4. Time to Restore Service (TTRS): TTRS measures how quickly an organization can recover from a production incident or service outage. It includes the time it takes to detect the incident, diagnose the issue, and restore service to normal. A shorter TTRS indicates improved incident response and service resilience.

These DORA metrics are considered key indicators of DevOps success because they focus on aspects like deployment speed, code quality, and incident management, which are critical for delivering value to customers and maintaining a reliable and efficient development and operations process. Organizations that excel in these metrics tend to be more agile, innovative, and competitive in today’s fast-paced software development landscape.

It’s important to note that while the DORA metrics are valuable for assessing DevOps performance, they should be used in conjunction with other context-specific metrics to gain a comprehensive understanding of an organization’s software delivery and operational excellence. Additionally, the DORA metrics are not static; organizations should continuously measure, analyze, and improve their DevOps practices to drive better outcomes.