How To Level Up Your Business With 12 Software Development Metrics

5 min readJan 24, 2019

Originally published at onix-systems.com.

Software development metrics are tools which help measure software features. These tools are meant to evaluate and improve software development efficiency and performance. Such software metrics have to do with plans and constant improvements of the software development team’s process.

In our blog, we are going to discuss 12 distinct categories of software development team metrics. They are part and parcel of an agile development model. The goal is achieving the highest possible software quality.

Benefits of Business Development Metrics

To create high-quality software products and services, development teams have to be monitored continuously. To do this effectively, there is a need for software solutions that can stand the test of time.

Exceptional project management is key to maximize the strengths of each team member. This can help to prevent both individual and corporate burnout while fostering fruitful cooperation.

At closer glance, the development metrics aid in:

Increasing ROI (return on investment)
Reducing costs and overtime
Tracking the team’s performance
Checking that the final product matches initial expectations
Specifying delivery speed
Allocating time for each successive stage of the development process
Determining key areas for improvement

The Most Essential Keys Of Software Development Metrics

So what are some key metrics for a development company?

In our experience, we have identified twelve factors of business software development crucial for a company’s success, no matter which business model you embrace:

1. Agile Process Metrics

Agile process metrics is centered on sound decision-making. Agile development metrics are used to optimize the software development process.

2. Lead Time

Lead time is the period of time spanning from the initial ideas to specific software development and delivery. The client is the king here. Therefore estimates should be provided as to when they can expect completion of their tasks.

3. Code Churn

Code churn refers to lines of code (LOC). They are modified (deleted or added) in a specific period of time. The primary objective is controlling the quality of the software engineering process.

If code churn increases, then it is highly advisable to monitor the development process.

4. Cycle Time

Cycle time estimates how much time is needed to change the software system and incorporate that change in production.

5. Team Velocity

Team velocity calculates the number of software units completed by a team in an iteration or sprint. Velocity index is specific for each team. It needs to be prioritized in correspondence to set goals.

For example, let’s say there are 300 story points in a project backlog on average, and the team completes 10 story points for a sprint. Then the team will have to score about 30 sprints to finish the project.

6. Cumulative Flow

Software development cumulative flow (a.k.a. iteration flow) is the imaging of tickets’ status over time. The team needs to visualize the stages of work from one status to another.

7. Open/Close Rates

Open/close rates help to see how many production problems are reported and closed in a particular time frame.

8. Impact

Impact measures the results of any code modification on the software development project. A code alteration that influences multiple sets of files can a have a more significant effect than a code change for a single file.

9. Active Days

The active days metric evaluates the amount of time a developer writes code within one software development project. That doesn’t take into account planning, meetings, etc. The objective is to discover hidden possible roadblocks in the development process.

10. Efficiency

Efficiency measures the percentage of a developer’s written code that is productive and ready for release. The most productive developers generate code in small sprints, with an average churn rate.

11. Test coverage

Test coverage is a metric used for testing software development. It shows the percentage of the software’s source code which was contributed during the stage of testing. It is used to uncover quality deficiencies in the written code.

12. Production

Production metrics strive to estimate the amount of work done and to analyze the effectiveness of software development teams. This metric is important to managers who strive to have their developers deliver results as fast as possible.

Final Thoughts

These 12 software development metrics have helped us effectively track our development teams’ success. The difference between success or failure sometimes lies in choosing the right types of testing tools. We recommend paying attention to these tried-and-true business development metrics. Should you need to address any further questions in this area, please feel free to contact us.