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You’ve picked your metrics and have a good idea of how you want to go about measuring the performance of your engineering team. Now you need a software developer analytics platform that can pull these various data points together for simple analysis and reporting. With so many options on the market, where do you start your assessment?
This handy checklists should help you make the right choice.
1. Understand your goals
Every team has its own reasons to track developer performance. Some teams want to find the bottlenecks hampering productivity, while others want a deeper dive into resource allocation and team bandwidth. Defining goals sets the stage for finding a tool with features that support your organizational needs and helps you avoid paying for bells and whistles you won’t use.
2. Define your stakeholders
One of the primary benefits of a software developer analytics tool is its ability to demonstrate the engineering team’s value to different stakeholders, from C-suite executives and finance teams, to product owners, and other engineering leaders.
Once you’ve defined your stakeholders, consider which ones will be decision-makers in choosing the final solution. Clarify your decision team before meeting with vendors to streamline the consideration process.
3. Review your tech stack
The more data you ingest, the more insights your chosen solution can offer. Engineering teams that get the most value by integrating project management tools, code repositories, CI/CD pipelines, HR systems, calendars, and more.
Before shopping for a new solution, list all the tools you may want to integrate. Compare that list to the native integrations each solution offers. Even though most tools allow teams to use an API or create custom integrations, remember that customization often makes implementations more complex and expensive.
4. Set a budget
Most developer metrics tools are sold as-a-service and charged by the user, so knowing how many stakeholders will need user seats is a given. However, many teams forget the extra time and expense of creating custom configurations or training new users. Setting a realistic budget with room for unexpected costs helps teams select the tool that will deliver the highest return on investment.
5. Schedule demos
Once you narrow down which vendors support your goals, tech stack, and budget, schedule demos with each vendor to see the product in action. Even if one solution seems like the perfect fit on paper, the demo offers an opportunity to see firsthand how different developer metrics platforms operate and test its limits.
Most teams assess software development analytics solutions based on these key features:
- Out-of-the-box integrations with their current tech stack
- Easy-to-read dashboards and reports
- KPI monitoring
- Shift-left security capabilities
- Error detection
- Cost and resource allocation
6. Prepare questions for your demos
Demos are more than an opportunity to see how the product works. With some preparation, teams can use demos to compare solutions apples-to-apples, learn about the implementation process, and ultimately choose the right tool for their teams.
Work with your stakeholders – particularly those involved in the decision-making process – to form a list of questions. Ask each vendor the same questions and take detailed notes. That way, teams can get important considerations answered early and minimize future meetings.
7. Compare vendors with decision-makers
After attending your demos, compare notes with your stakeholder team. Assess how well each solution would meet your goals, how much each solution will cost, and what the implementation plan looks like with each vendor. Rather than scheduling more meetings with stakeholders, address their objections and questions in a quick call with your representative.
Need more help choosing your software development analytics solution?
Narrowing down a long list of vendors can be daunting, especially if you still aren’t sure what you’re looking for. Start with our Software Development Analytics Tools buyers guide to learn everything you need to know about selecting the right engineering management platform for your team and come back to this checklist when you are ready to start assessing them.
