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One of my favorite quotes about metrics or KPIs is from Jim Fowler, CIO of GE Capital: “Don’t measure me on cost or traditional IT metrics, but on the metrics of the business.”
It’s a perfect tee-up for me to talk about metrics in the context of DevOps.
DevOps is the movement of enabling a business via technology or the ability to look at business processes and issues to mitigate them or achieve a goal.
The Importance of Metrics
DevOps has as one if its five major principles the concept of measuring (CLAMS: culture, lean, automation, measurement and sharing). DevOps helps the business understand how it uses and benefits from its second major resource after people: technology. This is where key performance indicators (KPIs) come in, though hopefully not KPIs such as this:
This specific KPI was created to show the productivity of developers, using lines of code written as the measure. Could you use or explain this? It’s a great example of metrics or KPIs that are based on bygone times of being complicated, disconnected from business goals, or driving the wrong behaviors by placing quantity ahead of quality.
Catch the Ball
DevOps enables everyone to work together toward a common goal. The DevOps lifecycle approach of creating a strategy, figuring out how to do it, introducing those steps, checking the results and, via feedback (people or tools), improving that strategy or product aids in improving the use and proving the benefit of IT.
DevOps can use a trick from lean (Hoshin Kanri), where the strategy from senior management is passed down to each level (“catchball”) such that each team can create its own way of supporting that strategy. Hoshin Kanri allows every person to set their own way of working to meet the goal. How DevOps is that?
By permission Steve Bell: LeanIT @All rights reserved worldwide
KPIs should be designed to help answer these questions:
- Did we improve or decline?
- Are we on course?
- Does the impact effect our organization?
- Do we need help?
KPIs provoke a Yes/No response and force an immediate action/decision. If not, they are simply metrics that probably support a KPI but do not key to help fulfill a strategy or request.
How Do You Create a KPI?
First, look at a business target. Can you see what’s required to help achieve the goal or remove the obstacle to achieving the goal? Then could you determine how you would know this was happening and whether you could you prove it? All answers have to be Yes/No.
I like making a tree, which also acts as a dashboard to quickly show at the various levels the indicators of performance and their status.
This helps make KPIs such as Cost of Delay, Mean Time between Repair, Defects2Incidents and others relevant to the right people at the right time. You could even be brave and flash the status using red and green: Red = we have a problem and need help to overcome or improve and green = all ok. Don’t hide behind amber—see how using just two colors helps guide easier, faster, better and safer.
KPIs should be collaboration and communication tools. Create and use them wisely to keep your organization in business and on course.
About the Author/Daniel Breston
Daniel Breston is the Chief of DevOps Transformation for Ranger4. Daniel has 30+years leading IT Service, Operations, Applications, Data Center and service partners in management of technology enabling business processes and functions. He has also spent 15 years of consulting and coaching leadership teams across the EU and UK in developing their people, processes and use of technology to deliver technology services better, faster, safer. Daniel has qualifications in IT Service Management (ITIL, COBIT,etc.), Lean and DevOPS.
