What is the Change Failure Rate (CFR)?
The Change Failure Rate (CFR) is one of the four DORA metrics used to evaluate software delivery performance. While it may seem simple, this metric provides critical insights into the stability and quality of a team’s deployment process. It measures the percentage of production changes that result in failures requiring corrective action, such as rollbacks or hotfixes.
How to calculate the CFR
The CFR is calculated using the following formula:
Example
If your team made 20 production deployments in a month and 3 of them resulted in failures requiring fixes, the CFR would be:
Why is the CFR important?
Software Quality and Stability
A high CFR indicates recurring issues with the implemented changes, suggesting that the review and testing process may not be thorough enough. Keeping the CFR low is essential to ensure that users experience minimal interruptions or issues.
Feedback and Continuous Improvement
The CFR offers direct feedback on the effectiveness of development and deployment processes. By tracking this metric, teams can identify patterns in failures and work to improve problem areas, whether in the codebase, testing procedures, or continuous integration workflows.
What is a good CFR range? What should we aim for?
Comparing the CFR to industry standards can help contextualize your team’s performance. According to DORA benchmarks:
Elite: Less than 5%
High: Between 5% and 10%
Medium: Between 10% and 15%
Low: More than 15%
These benchmarks provide a clear guide for where your team stands and where you should aim to be.
How to reduce the CFR
Improve Automated Testing
Increasing the coverage of automated tests can help detect errors before they reach production. Be sure to include unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end tests.Rigorous Code Reviews
Encourage detailed and effective code reviews. Using static and dynamic analysis tools can also help identify potential issues before deployment.
Gradual Deployments
Adopt gradual deployment strategies like blue-green deployments or canary releases to minimize the impact of production failures and allow for quick rollbacks if needed.
Monitoring and Alerts
Set up a robust monitoring and alert system to quickly detect and address issues in production. Continuous monitoring enables teams to react swiftly and effectively to any failures.
Postmortem Analysis
Conduct postmortem analyses after each production failure to understand root causes and prevent future occurrences. Document and share the lessons learned with the entire team.
Conclusion
The Change Failure Rate is a critical metric for any development team aiming to maintain high levels of quality and stability in their software deployments.
By actively monitoring and working to reduce the CFR, you not only boost user confidence in the product but also optimize internal processes, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
At Teambit, we’re here to help you leverage productivity and quality metrics effectively. Use the CFR alongside other DORA metrics to get a comprehensive view of your team’s performance and take actionable steps toward achieving higher levels of software development excellence.