What is the DORA Framework?
The DORA Framework is a research-backed model that identifies the key metrics and practices that make software teams high-performing.
It helps organizations understand how effectively they deliver software, how reliable their systems are, and how they can improve over time.
Core Purpose of DORA:
- Improve software development speed
- Enhance system stability & reliability
- Provide quantifiable metrics to measure DevOps maturity
- Enable continuous improvement through data-driven insights
The Four DORA Metrics
These four metrics are used globally to measure DevOps performance:
1. Deployment Frequency (DF)
How often you deploy changes to production.
- High performers deploy daily or multiple times a day.
2. Lead Time for Changes (LT)
How long it takes for a code change to go from commit → production.
- Shorter lead times mean faster delivery and innovation.
3. Change Failure Rate (CFR)
Percentage of deployments that cause a failure (bugs, outages, rollbacks).
- Lower rates = better quality and testing.
4. Mean Time to Restore (MTTR)
How long it takes to restore service after an incident.
- High performers recover in less than an hour.
Additional Hints of the DORA Framework
DORA also emphasizes:
- CI/CD automation
- Trunk-based development
- Shift-left testing
- Monitoring & observability
- Customer-focused development
Performance Categories
Teams are categorized as:
- Elite performers
- High performers
- Medium performers
- Low performers
Elite teams deploy fast, recover quickly, and maintain stability.
Why DORA Matters
Organizations use DORA to:
- Improve DevOps and SRE practices
- Benchmark engineering performance
- Reduce downtime
- Deliver features faster
- Improve product quality