For the software delivery process, the most important global metric is cycle time. This is the time between deciding that a feature needs to be implemented and having that feature released to users. As Mary Poppendieck asks, "How long would it take your organization to deploy a change that involves just one single line of code? Do you do this on a repeatable, reliable basis?"4 This metric is hard to measure because it covers many parts of the software delivery process—from analysis, through development, to release. However, it tells you more about your process than any other metric.