Developer Experience: key numbers and productivity implications

Improving the developer experience (DevEx) has become a critical priority for organizations seeking competitive advantages. Research from leading industry analysts reveals compelling data about the impact of DevEx initiatives on business outcomes, productivity, and talent retention.

Developer Experience (DevEx)

• Improving DevEx: Improving the developer experience (DevEx) can lead to positive business outcomes such as revenue growth and improved customer satisfaction. 69% of respondents said that a good DevEx improves the end-user experience. Forrester, 2022

• The importance of DevEx for competitiveness: 75% of respondents say their ability to compete in the market is directly related to the speed of delivery of quality software. Forrester, 2022

• Formal DevEx programs: 45% of organisations already have formal developer experience programmes in place. Gartner, 2023

• Benefits of DevEx: Improving the developer experience improves team morale, productivity and development speed. Forrester, 2022

• Objectives of DevEx programmes: The most common goals of developer experience initiatives are to increase speed and productivity, improve software quality, and promote developer engagement. Gartner, 2023

• Benefits of investing in DevEx: More than 70% of organizations that have invested in DevEx have seen positive results such as revenue growth, improved developer satisfaction and increased productivity. Forrester, 2022

• DevEx as an important part of business strategy: 94% of respondents said their organisation has a DevEx strategy, but only one in four consider it mature and delivering value. Forrester, 2022

• Positive impact of DevEx on business goals: More than two-thirds of respondents believe that improving DevEx will positively impact business goals such as customer attraction and retention, revenue growth and profitability. Forrester, 2022

• A critical priority for management: 58% of software engineering leaders said that developer experience is a highly critical priority for their leadership. Gartner, 2023

• Support for diverse roles: 66% of organisations include not only internal employees but also external developers or outsourced teams in their DevEx programmes. Gartner, 2023

• Planned investments in DevEx: 76% of organisations plan to invest more in developer experience in the next year, leading to higher productivity and employee satisfaction. Atlassian, 2024

• Dissatisfaction with DevEx investments: Only 23% of developers are satisfied with their organisation's investment in DevEx improvements, meaning there is a significant gap between expectations and reality. Atlassian, 2024

• The importance of DevEx for talent retention: 86% of leaders believe it will be nearly impossible to attract and retain top talent without improving DevEx. Atlassian, 2024

Productivity and tools

• Productivity and tools: Investing in tools and automation increases productivity, profitability and developer satisfaction. Forrester, 2022

• Deployment automation: Automation of application deployment, access to open-source software, and prebuilt CI/CD pipelines were identified as key capabilities that can have a significant positive impact on the developer experience. Forrester, 2022

• Platform Engineering: Platform engineering can improve productivity and organisational performance, but the right approaches to process and technology transformation are needed to achieve success. DORA, 2024

• Internal platforms for developers: 89% of respondents use an internal developer platform, which increases individual productivity by 8% and team productivity by 10%. DORA, 2024

• The importance of automation: Application deployment automation was cited as the most important capability that would have a positive impact on the developer experience. 59% of respondents said that application deployment automation is key to improving DevEx. Forrester, 2022

• Loss of productivity due to inefficiencies: 69% of developers said they lose 8 hours or more per week due to inefficiencies in their role, which can have a significant impact on team productivity. Atlassian, 2024

DORA metrics and team performance

• DORA metrics: Elite teams achieve 127x faster change deployment times and have 8x lower deployment failure rates than low-performing teams. DORA, 2024

• DORA - four key metrics: The best teams excel in all four software delivery metrics (lead time, deployment frequency, change failure rate, and time to recover from a failed deployment), while the worst teams perform poorly in all four. DORA, 2024

• Platform engineering and performance: Platform engineering delivers a 6% increase in software delivery and operational performance, but there is an 8% decrease in throughput and a 14% decrease in change stability. DORA, 2024

• Reducing friction in the team: 58% of respondents said the main goal of investing in DevEx is to reduce friction in team processes, for example by implementing tools that automate task handoffs or speed up debugging. Forrester, 2022

• Cost of inefficiency: Losing 8 hours a week due to inefficiencies in a company with 500 developers can cost approximately $6.9 million a year. Atlassian, 2024

The influence of leadership and stable priorities

• Stable priorities: Unstable organizational priorities lead to decreased productivity and increased burnout. Stability of priorities increases productivity and improves developer well-being. DORA, 2024

• Transformational leadership: Transformational leadership improves productivity, satisfaction, team performance and reduces the likelihood of employee burnout. DORA, 2024

• Impact of environment on productivity: A stable work environment where priorities are not constantly changing leads to a small but significant increase in productivity and a reduced chance of burnout. DORA, 2024

• The complexity of the developer's role: 99% of leaders agree that the role of the developer has become more complex, with inadequate staffing, technology and tools being the main factors. Atlassian, 2024

Adoption of artificial intelligence

• Adoption of artificial intelligence: 39.2% of respondents say they have low or no confidence in AI, which can affect their productivity and work performance. DORA, 2024

• Positive impacts of AI: 75% of respondents reported that the adoption of AI had a positive impact on their productivity, with more than a third reporting moderate to extreme productivity gains. DORA, 2024

• Using AI in everyday work: 75.9% of individuals rely on AI for their daily professional tasks, with writing code (74.9%) and summarizing information (71.2%) being the most frequently used tasks. DORA, 2024

• Impact of AI on code quality and documentation: AI improves documentation quality by 7.5% and code quality by 3.4%, while speeding up approval and review processes. DORA, 2024

These statistics underscore the importance of investing in developer experience. Organizations that prioritize DevEx see tangible benefits in productivity, employee satisfaction, and business outcomes. As the complexity of the developer role continues to grow, a strategic approach to DevEx becomes not just beneficial, but essential for staying competitive.