When evaluating the success of an IDP, what metrics or signals do you look for?

I focus on three main points: adoption rate, time to first deployment, and developer satisfaction scores. I also look at operational metrics, such as deployment frequency, incident reductions, and onboarding time.

Our evaluation includes end-to-end product development metrics, such as the time taken by teams to deliver use cases within a sprint. We assess whether the IDP, whether hybrid or internal, improves reusability and reduces release cycle times, thereby increasing team velocity. Cost efficiency is also crucial; we analyze whether teams can produce more story points within the same budget. Additionally, we track the number of releases and features delivered to clients. Quality is a critical factor; a minor bug in an API used by multiple teams can have a multiplied impact, so we emphasize quality and efficiency in our CI/CD pipeline.

We assess success through three different personas: leaders, users, and implementers. From an implementation perspective, our success is measured by how well the platform supports all use cases across the company — aiming for 100% coverage. For users, the focus is on driving efficiency and enhancing the developer experience. We evaluate how easily users can access and utilize the platform’s services and whether these services meet their needs. Leadership is primarily concerned with financial metrics, such as cost savings and revenue generation, which we demonstrate through specific KPIs related to developer efficiency and customer-facing applications.