Team Guide to Metrics for Business Decisions
Team Guide to Metrics for Business Decisions
About the Book
How can software teams keep a laser-like focus on outcomes whilst improving practices and flow? How can software teams understand where the bottlenecks are in their processes? And how can software teams provide reliable forecasts of when work will be done? The answer to these questions is: software teams should use Business Metrics.
Teams that use Business Metrics understand Throughput, Lead Time, Forecasting, Flow, Quality, and Value - all measures that speak directly to business outcomes. By using Business Metrics, your software team will produce software that is more business-relevant with more certainty and less waste.
Learn how metrics can help your software team answer questions like “How fast are we going? What should we do next? Where’s the bottleneck?” Deliver software more effectively with greater certainty.
Team Guide to Metrics for Business Decisions is the second guidebook in the collection from Skelton Thatcher Publications (part of Conflux Books). The ‘Team Guide’ collection is designed to help teams building and running software systems to be as effective as possible. Guides are curated by experienced practitioners and emphasise the need for collaboration and learning, with the team at the centre.
About the Authors
Bundles that include this book
About the Contributors
Manuel Pais is an independent DevOps and Delivery Consultant, focused on teams and flow.
With a diverse experience including development, build management, testing and QA, Manuel has helped large organizations in finance, legal, and manufacturing adopt test automation and continuous delivery, as well as understand DevOps from both technical and human perspectives.
Manuel is co-author of the Team Guide to Software Releasability book and lead editor for the remaining books in the Team Guide series.
Matthew Skelton is co-author of Team Topologies: organizing business and technology teams for fast flow. Head of Consulting at Conflux (confluxdigital.net), he specialises in Continuous Delivery, operability and organisation dynamics for software in manufacturing, ecommerce, and online services, including cloud, IoT, and embedded software.
Recognised by TechBeacon in 2018 as one of the top 100 people to follow in DevOps, Matthew curates the well-known DevOps team topologies patterns at devopstopologies.com and is co-author of the books Continuous Delivery with Windows and .NET (O’Reilly, 2016) and Team Guide to Software Operability (Skelton Thatcher Publications, 2016). He is also co-founder at Conflux Books which publishes books for technologists by technologists.
Table of Contents
- Team Guides for Software
- Acknowledgements
- Praise for Metrics for Business Decisions
- Index of Case Studies
-
Introduction
- What is covered in this book
- All the time in the world
- Value, quality, & operational metrics
- How to use this book
- Get Started!
- Feedback and suggestions
-
1. Throughput: How fast are we going?
- 1.1 Why should I care about throughput?
- 1.2 What’s the problem with velocity and story points?
- 1.3 What is throughput?
- 1.4 Use throughput for short term predictions
- 1.5 Use throughput to validate experiments
- 1.6 Use throughput for long term predictions
- 1.7 Debunking some myths
- 1.8 Public resources
- 1.9 Get started!
- 1.10 Summary
-
2. Lead Time: How long will this take?
- 2.1 Why should I care about lead time?
- 2.2 What is lead time?
- 2.3 Measuring lead time
- 2.4 Use lead time to make predictions
- 2.5 Use lead time to answer business questions
- 2.6 Use lead time for continuous improvement
- 2.7 Use lead time to answer “What should we work on today?”
- 2.8 Debunking some myths
- 2.9 Public resources
- 2.10 Get started!
- 2.11 Summary
-
3. Forecasting and Planning: When will it be done?
- 3.1 Why should I care about forecasting?
- 3.2 The common way of estimating
- 3.3 How long will this feature/project take?
- 3.4 Answering business questions with probabilistic forecasting
- 3.5 Forecasting tips & tricks: how to improve your forecasts
- 3.6 The benefits of forecasting
- 3.7 Debunking some myths
- 3.8 Public resources
- 3.9 Get started!
- 3.10 Summary
-
4. Metrics for Flow: Where is the bottleneck?
- 4.1 Why should I care about flow?
- 4.2 What is flow
- 4.3 Use a cumulative flow diagram to answer: Is work flowing well?
- 4.4 Use net flow to answer: Is our process balanced?
- 4.5 Use flow efficiency to improve the end-to-end process
- 4.6 Public resources
- 4.7 Get started!
- 4.8 Summary
-
5. Metrics for Quality: How do we know this works?
- 5.1 Why should I care about metrics for quality?
- 5.2 What do we mean by quality?
- 5.3 Use quality metrics to identify the needs of various groups of people
- 5.4 Use quality metrics to discover who is affected by quality
- 5.5 Use quality metrics to identify and reduce Failure Demand
- 5.6 Use quality metrics to tell compelling stories to the right people
- 5.7 Debunking some myths
- 5.8 Get started!
- 5.9 Summary
-
6. Metrics for Value: Is this worth doing?
- 6.1 Why should I care about value metrics?
- 6.2 What are metrics for value?
- 6.3 Provide a foundation of operational and quality metrics
- 6.4 Measure usage: is anyone using it?
- 6.5 Use the Pirate Metrics: AARRR
- 6.6 Make your customers part of the decision-making process
- 6.7 Expect to keep learning and adapting
- 6.8 Debunking some myths
- 6.9 Get started!
- 6.10 Summary
- Terminology
-
References and further reading
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 - Throughput
- Chapter 2 - Lead Time
- Chapter 3 - Forecasting and planning
- Chapter 4 - Metrics for Flow
- Chapter 5 - Metrics for Quality
- Chapter 6 - Metrics for Value
-
About the authors
- Mattia Battiston
- Chris Young
- Why we wrote this book
- Index
- Conflux Books
About the Publisher
This book is published on Leanpub by Skelton Thatcher Publications
Developing and running modern software systems requires teams of motivated and well-trained people. The Team Guide series from Skelton Thatcher Publications takes a team-first approach to software systems with the aim of empowering whole teams to build and operate software systems more effectively. Part of Conflux Books.
Authors have earned$10,089,287writing, publishing and selling on Leanpub, earning 80% royalties while saving up to 25 million pounds of CO2 and up to 46,000 trees.
Learn more about writing on Leanpub
The Leanpub 45-day 100% Happiness Guarantee
Within 45 days of purchase you can get a 100% refund on any Leanpub purchase, in two clicks.
See full terms
Free Updates. DRM Free.
If you buy a Leanpub book, you get free updates for as long as the author updates the book! Many authors use Leanpub to publish their books in-progress, while they are writing them. All readers get free updates, regardless of when they bought the book or how much they paid (including free).
Most Leanpub books are available in PDF (for computers), EPUB (for phones and tablets) and MOBI (for Kindle). The formats that a book includes are shown at the top right corner of this page.
Finally, Leanpub books don't have any DRM copy-protection nonsense, so you can easily read them on any supported device.
Learn more about Leanpub's ebook formats and where to read them
Top Books
- #1
C++20
Rainer GrimmC++20 is the next big C++ standard after C++11. As C++11 did it, C++20 changes the way we program modern C++. This change is, in particular, due to the big four of C++20: ranges, coroutines, concepts, and modules.
The book is almost daily updated. These incremental updates ease my interaction with the proofreaders.
- #2
A Guide to Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare
Dr. Bertalan MeskoCan we stay human in the age of A.I.? To go even further, can we grow in humanity, can we shape a more humane, more equitable and sustainable healthcare? This e-book aims to prepare healthcare and medical professionals for the era of human-machine collaboration. Read our guide to understanding, anticipating and controlling artificial intelligence.
- #3
C++ Best Practices
Jason TurnerLevel up your C++, get the tools working for you, eliminate common problems, and move on to more exciting things!
- #4
Atomic Kotlin
Bruce Eckel and Svetlana IsakovaFor both beginning and experienced programmers! From the author of the multi-award-winning Thinking in C++ and Thinking in Java together with a member of the Kotlin language team comes a book that breaks the concepts into small, easy-to-digest "atoms," along with exercises supported by hints and solutions directly inside IntelliJ IDEA!
- #5
Sockets and Pipes
Type ClassesSockets and Pipes is not an introduction to Haskell; it is an introduction to writing software in Haskell. Using a handful of everyday Haskell libraries, this book walks through reading the HTTP specification and implementing it to create a web server.
- #6
Introducing EventStorming
Alberto BrandoliniThe deepest tutorial and explanation about EventStorming, straight from the inventor.
- #7
node-opcua by example
Etienne RossignonGet the best out of node-opcua through a set of documented examples by the author himself that will allow you to create stunning OPCUA Servers or Clients.
- #8
Ansible for DevOps
Jeff GeerlingAnsible is a simple, but powerful, server and configuration management tool. Learn to use Ansible effectively, whether you manage one server—or thousands.
- #9
Functional Design and Architecture
Alexander GraninSoftware Design in Functional Programming, Design Patterns and Practices, Methodologies and Application Architectures. How to build real software in Haskell with less efforts and low risks. The first complete source of knowledge.
- #10
Composing Software
Eric ElliottAll software design is composition: the act of breaking complex problems down into smaller problems and composing those solutions. Most developers have a limited understanding of compositional techniques. It's time for that to change.
Top Bundles
- #1
Software Architecture for Developers: Volumes 1 & 2 - Technical leadership and communication
2 Books
"Software Architecture for Developers" is a practical and pragmatic guide to modern, lightweight software architecture, specifically aimed at developers. You'll learn:The essence of software architecture.Why the software architecture role should include coding, coaching and collaboration.The things that you really need to think about before... - #2
All the Books of The Medical Futurist
6 Books
We put together the most popular books from The Medical Futurist to provide a clear picture about the major trends shaping the future of medicine and healthcare. Digital health technologies, artificial intelligence, the future of 20 medical specialties, big pharma, data privacy, digital health investments and how technology giants such as Amazon... - #3
PowerShell
3 Books
Buy every PowerShell book from Adam Bertram at a 20% discount! - #4
Cisco CCNA 200-301 Complet
4 Books
Ce lot comprend les quatre volumes du guide préparation à l'examen de certification Cisco CCNA 200-301. - #5
Linux Administration Complet
4 Books
Ce lot comprend les quatre volumes du Guide Linux Administration :Linux Administration, Volume 1, Administration fondamentale : Guide pratique de préparation aux examens de certification LPIC 1, Linux Essentials, RHCSA et LFCS. Administration fondamentale. Introduction à Linux. Le Shell. Traitement du texte. Arborescence de fichiers. Sécurité... - #6
Modern C++ by Nicolai Josuttis
2 Books
- #7
Django for Beginners/APIs/Professionals
3 Books
- #8
Learn Git, Bash, and Terraform the Hard Way
3 Books
Learn Git, Bash and Terraform using the Hard Way method.These technologies are essential tools in the DevOps armoury. These books walk you through their features and subtleties in a simple, gradual way that reinforces learning rather than baffling you with theory. - #9
Software Architecture and Beautiful APIs
2 Books
There is no better way to learn how to design good APIs than to look at many existing examples, complementing the Software Architecture theory on API design. - #10
Digital Future of Healthcare and Pharma
3 Books
These three popular e-books from The Medical Futurist describes how digital health technologies will shape the future of health, healthcare, medicine and pharma with exciting infographics in a digestible format.
