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Engineering Metrics8 min read

Why Your DORA Metrics Are Lying to You

DORA measures speed, not value. Speed in the wrong direction is expensive chaos.

By Richard Ewing·

The DORA Problem

DORA metrics measure velocity, not value. A team shipping broken features fast has great deployment frequency but terrible outcomes.

Where DORA Falls Short

No Economic Context: Doesn't tell you if what's delivered matters. Gaming Is Easy: Break large deploys into small ones. Maintenance Blindness: Doesn't distinguish value-creating from value-protecting deploys.

What to Measure Instead

Layer economic metrics on top: APER (productive engineering ratio), Revenue per Deploy, Cost per Story Point, Innovation Ratio (feature vs. total deploys).


Calculate your APER →

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Published Work

This article expands on ideas from my published work in CIO.com, Built In, Mind the Product, and HackerNoon. View published articles →

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Richard Ewing

The Product Economist — Quantifying engineering economics for technology leaders, PE firms, and boards.