Deployment Frequency

I. Formal Definition

The rate at which production deployments succeed against a defined service or service group, measured per unit time. Deployment frequency is one of the four DORA metrics and is interpreted as a proxy for the throughput of the change pipeline. The federation accepts deployment frequency as a corroborating indicator but rejects its use as a standalone reliability claim: a high frequency without a low change-failure rate and a short mean time to recover indicates speed without discipline. Reporting must therefore disclose the companion DORA metrics.

II. Etymology

Formalised by the DevOps Research and Assessment programme led by Nicole Forsgren and colleagues, with results first published in the Accelerate work in 2018.

III. Federation Usage

Federation members reporting deployment frequency must report it alongside change-failure rate and mean time to recover. Reporting in isolation is non-conforming under TGS-002:1.7.

IV. Related Terms

• lead-time
• continuous-delivery
• canary-release
• incident-postmortem

V. Authoritative Citations

• UFMS-001:2.4UFMS Article II - DORA Reporting
• TGS-002:1.7TGS Title II - Reporting Conduct

VI. Citation in BibTeX

@misc{ifo4_glossary_deployment_frequency,
  title        = {{Deployment Frequency}},
  author       = {{IFO4 Federation Editorial Board}},
  howpublished = {{IFO4 Federation Glossary, slug \texttt{deployment-frequency}}},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://ifo4.org/glossary/deployment-frequency},
  note         = {Category: DevOps; key: DeploymentFrequency}
}

VII. Challenge This Definition

Federation members and accredited practitioners may challenge any entry under TGS-002:1.7. Filed challenges are routed to the editorial board, triaged into the revision register, and resolved in writing on the public docket. The slug remains stable through any revision.