Lead Time for Changes is the DORA metric that measures the total time from a developer committing code to that code being successfully deployed and running in production. This metric directly assesses the end-to-end velocity and efficiency of the software delivery lifecycle. Effective platform engineering initiatives aim to streamline this process by providing self-service tools, automated pipelines, and standardized environments, which directly reduces the Lead Time for Changes. It is therefore the most direct measure of the time-based efficiency gains from such initiatives.

B. Deployment Frequency: This metric measures how often code is deployed to production, indicating throughput, not the time it takes for a single change to go through the process.

C. Mean Time to Recovery: This measures the time it takes to restore service after a production failure, focusing on system stability and resilience, not the initial deployment speed.

D. Change Failure Rate: This measures the percentage of deployments that cause a failure in production, reflecting the quality and stability of the release process, not its duration.

1. Google Cloud Documentation. (n.d.). What are DORA metrics? Google. Retrieved from https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/devops-sre/what-are-dora-metrics.

Reference Point: In the "Lead time for changes" section

the document states: "Lead time for changes is the amount of time it takes to go from code committed to code successfully running in production." This definition directly aligns with the question.

2. Software Engineering Institute

Carnegie Mellon University. (2023

August 22). What is DORA and Why Should You Care? SEI Blog.

Reference Point: The article defines the four DORA metrics. For "Lead Time for Changes

" it specifies this as the time it takes "to get committed code into production

" which directly answers the question's prompt.

3. Forsgren

N.

& Kersten

M. (2021). The SPACE of Developer Productivity: There's more to it than you think. ACM Queue

19(1)

20-49. https://doi.org/10.1145/3454122.3454124

Reference Point: Section "Perception of satisfaction and well-being

" Table 1. The table lists DORA metrics under "Performance

" defining "Lead time for changes" as a measure of system velocity

reinforcing its role in tracking the speed from commit to deployment.