Fig. 01 · Glossary
Change Failure Rate
Also known as Deployment Failure Rate, Release Failure Rate
Definition
Change failure rate is one of the four DORA metrics. It measures how often production changes create failure. For a board or buyer, the metric matters because it converts engineering process quality into customer risk, support load, roadmap delay, and avoidable EBITDA drag.
A high change failure rate is not just an engineering problem. It signals weak testing, unclear ownership, brittle architecture, poor release governance, or insufficient observability.
In technical diligence, the number matters less than the trend and the response system. A team that fails rarely but cannot restore quickly can still create board-level risk.
Human Renaissance glossary · operator-grade definitions · Research methodology
