Why DORA Metrics Aren't Enough for Engineering Teams

The DORA (DevOps Research and Assessment) metrics have been a transformative framework for engineering organizations. Based on the pioneering research presented in Accelerate, these four key metrics—deployment frequency, lead time for changes, change failure rate, and mean time to recovery (MTTR)—offer a quantifiable glimpse into the performance and health of software delivery processes.

They have become synonymous with DevOps excellence, helping teams understand and optimize their delivery pipelines. But here’s the truth: while DORA metrics are a fantastic starting point, they’re far from the full story. If you rely solely on DORA metrics to assess your team’s productivity and success, you’re missing critical nuances that make or break your organization’s engineering effectiveness.

This article will explore why DORA metrics alone aren’t enough and what you should consider instead.

What Makes DORA Metrics Valuable—and Where They Fall Short

The strength of DORA metrics lies in their simplicity and alignment with DevOps goals. Teams that perform well on these metrics often experience fewer bottlenecks, faster delivery cycles, and improved quality of life for developers. However, their value diminishes when they’re applied without the necessary context or as the sole measure of success. Here’s why:

DORA Metrics Are Lagging Indicators

DORA metrics provide a retrospective view of your engineering processes. While useful for spotting trends over time, they don’t give you actionable insights into why your metrics are what they are or how to improve them. For example, knowing your deployment frequency is low doesn’t reveal whether the bottleneck lies in CI/CD pipelines, code review cycles, or team alignment.

They Ignore Alignment and Value

DORA metrics focus on the mechanics of delivery but fail to address a critical question: are we building the *right* things? Your team could excel at frequent deployments and low lead times, yet still miss the mark if the work being delivered doesn’t align with business objectives or customer needs.

They Don’t Account for Developer Experience

Happy, engaged developers build better software—but DORA metrics don’t tell you anything about how your engineers feel about their work. Low deployment frequency could stem from inefficient tools, but it might also reflect burnout or dissatisfaction within the team. Metrics like developer sentiment and friction points must complement DORA to paint a fuller picture.

They Can Be Misleading Without Context

Interpreting DORA metrics across teams or applications without considering differences in context can lead to bad decisions. A legacy system will have very different constraints compared to a greenfield microservices project. Comparing deployment frequencies or MTTR between these two systems is neither fair nor actionable.

While DORA metrics focus on deployment frequency and lead time, they don’t fully capture broader engineering goals. - Eli Daniel, Head of Engineering @ Jellyfish

Why Solely Chasing Metrics Can Be Dangerous

Metrics like DORA’s four key indicators can create unintended consequences when treated as goals rather than tools. Goodhart’s Law warns us that “when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.” This holds true for engineering metrics:

• Gaming the System: Teams might optimize for the metrics rather than outcomes. For example, increasing deployment frequency by pushing small, inconsequential updates doesn’t necessarily add value.
• Misguided Incentives: Overemphasis on MTTR or lead time can drive behaviors that prioritize speed over quality, leading to more incidents and technical debt.
• Lack of Improvement Focus: Organizations that celebrate DORA success without deeper analysis may overlook systemic inefficiencies or misaligned priorities.

Expanding Beyond DORA: A Holistic Approach to Metrics

To truly understand and improve engineering effectiveness, teams must broaden their focus beyond DORA metrics. Here are key areas to consider:

Incorporate Developer Sentiment and Experience

The Space Framework, introduced by Microsoft and GitHub researchers, emphasizes that productivity is multi-dimensional. Combining quantitative metrics like DORA with qualitative data such as developer surveys provides a richer understanding of your team’s health.

Questions to ask:

• Are developers satisfied with their tools and processes?
• Where are the biggest friction points in their workflows?

Focus on Business Outcomes

Align your engineering metrics with business goals. Beyond measuring how quickly changes are deployed, ask:

• Are we delivering features that solve customer problems?
• How does our work impact revenue, retention, or customer satisfaction?

Measure Contextual Productivity

Look beyond aggregate metrics to uncover bottlenecks and opportunities. For instance:

• Track code review times to identify areas for process improvement.
• Analyze incidents by root cause to reduce recurring issues.

Adopt Metrics as Conversation Starters

Rather than treating metrics as absolute truths, use them to spark dialogue:

• Why are lead times increasing?
• What’s causing variance in deployment frequency across teams?

These discussions can surface hidden challenges and drive meaningful change.

How OpsLevel Helps You Move Beyond DORA

At OpsLevel, we believe engineering metrics should empower teams, not confine them. Our internal developer portal provides the tools to surface actionable insights and improve productivity without falling into the pitfalls of overly simplistic metrics.

Here’s how we help:

• Service Catalog and Scorecards: Gain a holistic view of your engineering ecosystem. Track dependencies, ownership, and health metrics to ensure alignment and identify areas for improvement.
• Actionable Insights: Move from metrics to meaningful action by uncovering underlying issues, such as technical debt or inefficiencies in your delivery pipelines.
• Customizable Dashboards: Tailor metrics to your organization’s unique context and priorities.

DORA metrics are a valuable part of any engineering measurement strategy, but they’re just that: a part. To unlock true engineering excellence, organizations must go beyond DORA by incorporating developer sentiment, aligning with business outcomes, and contextualizing metrics within their unique environment.

By expanding your focus, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of your team’s challenges and opportunities, enabling you to drive meaningful, sustainable improvements. Ready to take the next step? Book a call today and let OpsLevel help you build the full picture.