DORA metrics
Introduction
DevOps Research and Assessment (DORA) metrics help teams measure and improve how quickly and safely they deliver software. They focus on the flow of work from code commit to production, and are a key indicator of delivery performance.
These metrics are used across the industry to benchmark engineering teams and support continuous improvement. They are especially useful for identifying bottlenecks and improving team agility.
Guidance
Teams MUST measure and review DORA metrics at least every two weeks.
The four metrics are:
The metrics
Deployment frequency
Deployment frequency measures how often code is deployed to production.
Frequent, small deployments are preferred because they:
- reduce the risk of each change
- make it easier to identify and fix issues
- shorten the time to deliver value to users
Teams SHOULD aim to deploy at least weekly, and ideally daily or more often.
Lead time for changes
Lead time for changes measures the time from code being merged to it running in production.
Shorter lead times:
- reduce the amount of undeployed work in the system
- allow faster feedback and learning
- make it easier to respond to issues or change priorities
This metric is different from cycle time, which includes the time spent implementing the change.
Teams SHOULD aim for lead times of minutes or hours, and no more than a few days.
Change failure rate
Change failure rate is the percentage of deployments that cause a failure in production.
Some failures are expected — the goal is not to eliminate them entirely, but to reduce their impact and recover quickly.
Teams SHOULD focus on improving recovery time rather than chasing zero failures, which can lead to over-engineering and slower delivery.
A failure might include:
- a bug that affects users
- a rollback or hotfix
- a degraded service
Time to restore service
Time to restore service measures how long it takes to recover from a production incident.
Short recovery times:
- reduce the impact on users and the business
- build confidence in the team’s ability to respond
- support faster iteration and learning
Teams SHOULD aim to restore service in minutes or hours, not days.
Measurement
The following indicators help teams assess their software delivery performance against industry benchmarks and identify areas for improvement.
| ID | Indicator | Green | Amber | Red |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DORA-1 | Deployment frequency | Daily or more | Weekly | Less than weekly |
| DORA-2 | Lead time for changes | Minutes or hours | 1 to 3 days | More than 3 days |
| DORA-3 | Change failure rate | <10% | 10–20% | >20% |
| DORA-4 | Time to restore service | <1 hour | 1–4 hours | >4 hours |
References
Published: 17 July 2025
Last updated: 7 August 2025
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