What are the best metrics and tools for monitoring software delivery reliability?

2 Change Failure Rate

Change failure rate is the percentage of code changes that result in failures or defects in production. It measures how reliable and stable your software delivery process is. A lower change failure rate means you have fewer incidents and errors that affect your customers and require remediation. To measure change failure rate, you can use tools like Sentry, New Relic, or Datadog that monitor your application performance and errors. You can also use feedback loops and postmortems to learn from your failures and improve your quality practices.

3 Mean Time to Restore

Mean time to restore (MTTR) is the time it takes to recover from a failure or defect in production. It measures how resilient and agile your software delivery process is. A shorter MTTR means you can restore service to customers faster and minimize the impact of incidents. To measure MTTR, you can use tools like PagerDuty, Opsgenie, or Jira that manage your incident response and resolution. You can also use automation and testing tools to speed up your recovery and prevent recurrence.

4 Deployment Frequency

Deployment frequency is the number of times you deploy code changes to production in a given period. It measures how often and consistently you deliver value to customers. A higher deployment frequency means you can release smaller and safer batches of changes that are easier to test and roll back. To measure deployment frequency, you can use tools like Spinnaker, Harness, or Octopus Deploy that orchestrate your deployments and pipelines. You can also use metrics and feedback tools to evaluate the outcomes and benefits of your deployments.

5 Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is the degree to which your customers are happy and loyal to your software product or service. It measures how well you meet and exceed their expectations and needs. A higher customer satisfaction means you have more retention, referrals, and revenue. To measure customer satisfaction, you can use tools like SurveyMonkey, Qualtrics, or NPS that collect and analyze your customer feedback and ratings. You can also use analytics and user behavior tools to understand how your customers use and value your software features and fixes.