# Lead Time

## Definition
Lead Time (specifically Lead Time for Changes) is the interval from when a developer commits code to when that code is successfully deployed to production. It measures the total time from code commitment to customer-facing value delivery.

## Importance
Lead Time is a critical DORA (DevOps Research and Assessment) metric. Short lead times indicate:
- Efficient development and delivery processes
- High levels of automation
- Reduced risk in deployments
- Faster feedback loops
- Better alignment with business objectives

## Across DevOps Maturity Levels

| Maturity | Lead Time Characteristic |
|----------|-------------------------|
| Phase 1 | Long — manual processes, milestone-based releases, siloed teams cause extended lead times |
| Phase 2 | Improving — Agile practices introduced, version control helps, but manual interventions persist |
| Phase 3 | Shorter — automated builds and tests speed up delivery, security integrated earlier |
| Phase 4 | Significantly reduced — CI pipeline and automated processes enable rapid iteration |
| Phase 5 | Less than one hour — elite performance, on-demand deployment capability |

## Elite Performance Benchmark
According to DORA research:
- **Elite performers**: Less than one hour lead time
- **High performers**: Between one week and one month
- **Medium performers**: Between one month and six months
- **Low performers**: More than six months

## Components of Lead Time
1. **Coding time** — Time to implement the change
2. **Build time** — Automated compilation and artifact generation
3. **Test time** — Unit, integration, and acceptance tests
4. **Review time** — Code review and approval processes
5. **Deployment time** — Time to deploy through pipeline stages
6. **Queuing time** — Time waiting for resources or approvals

## How to Improve Lead Time
- Automate the entire build-test-deploy pipeline
- Reduce batch sizes (smaller changes deploy faster)
- Implement robust automated testing to reduce review burden
- Eliminate manual approvals that create bottlenecks
- Use feature flags to decouple deployment from release
- Improve developer tooling and local build times

## Sources
- [[sources/devops-maturity-model-from-traditional-it-to-advanced-devops.md]]
- [[sources/cloud-devop-maturity-guideline.md]]

## Related Concepts
- [[concepts/DORA-Metrics]]
- [[concepts/Continuous-Deployment]]
- [[concepts/Time-to-Market]]
- [[concepts/DevOps-Maturity]]