The rise of cloud computing, coupled with the push for continuous software development, has led many businesses to the DevOps model. In DevOps, the team responsible for deployment and support of applications in the production environment works closely with development teams and development tools to streamline the transition of applications to operational usage. This is a culture change for many organizations, where traditionally the development and operations teams were separate. For companies that have made this transition, identifying the benefits and ROI can prove challenging.
CA Technologies developed a framework for metrics that can be used to assess the performance of DevOps. These metrics review the DevOps organization in the following areas:
Culture, collaboration, and sharing.
Cultural changes are needed for any DevOps program to succeed. Metrics such as staff retention and employee morale surveys help you determine how successfully the DevOps philosophy is accepted by your organization.
Efficiency and effectiveness.
DevOps teams need to show their success in meeting operational goals. These are traditional goals so traditional metrics such as admin-to-server ratios are still applicable. Other relevant metrics measure the cost of releases.
Quality and velocity.
These metrics verify whether this approach to service delivery is succeeding through looking at measures such as the number of releases that are rolled back due to problems and the time taken to restore service after a problem.
Customer and business value.
Ultimately, the reason for using DevOps is to achieve business goals. Companies should create metrics that assess whether DevOps is helping to roll out functionality more quickly, and improving customer loyalty.
Metrics are made at a moment in time, and an effective metrics program requires an ongoing program of assessment. Metrics which are continuously passed can be removed from the program; metrics which are not met can indicate unrealistic goals or a problem with the DevOps implementation. It's easy to backslide and measure only traditional operations metrics or technical factors such as number of bugs, but it's important to retain the emphasis on internal collaboration and customer satisfaction. The real ROI of DevOps comes when your teams work as one to meet business goals.
