Deployment Frequency: What It Is and How to Increase It

Deployment frequency is a metric that measures how often an organization successfully deploys code to production, reflecting its efficiency and agility in delivering new features, fixes, and updates. It's not just about speed but also creating a sustainable, low-risk approach to software delivery. The deployment frequency spectrum ranges from infrequent large releases to continuous deployment of small changes. Deployment frequency is one of the four key metrics identified by DORA for measuring DevOps performance. Factors affecting deployment frequency include technical infrastructure, automation tools, testing practices, release planning, and cultural factors such as risk tolerance and leadership support. Strategies to increase deployment frequency include implementing CI/CD, breaking down large releases into smaller chunks, adopting feature flags, improving automated testing, implementing IaC, creating a culture of continuous improvement, starting robust monitoring, adopting trunk-based development, and streamlining approval processes. LaunchDarkly's feature management platform enables safe, frequent deployments by decoupling deployment from release, enabling progressive delivery, supporting continuous delivery, and improving rapid incident response.