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Jira Metrics

Overview​

Jira metrics in Eng Intelligence add a layer of context on top of existing version control system metrics, helping engineering managers and leaders gain more insight into bottlenecks and focus areas.

The data used to calculate these metrics are pulled from the configured Jira instance's API. Note that team-related metrics are based on the teams defined in Cortex.

For full instructions on using the Eng Intelligence feature in Cortex, see the Eng Intelligence documentation.

Add Jira metrics to Eng Intelligence​

In order to see Jira metrics, you first need to add them to Eng Intelligence:

  1. Navigate to the Appearance settings page in Cortex.
  2. Click the Eng Intelligence tab, then scroll to the bottom of the page.
  3. In the dropdown, select the metric you want to add, then click Add.
    • Repeat this step for each metric you add. Select a metric in the dropdown
  4. Click Save.

Viewing Jira metrics in Eng Intelligence​

In the main nav of Cortex, click Eng Intelligence. The Jira metrics appear alongside other Eng Intelligence metrics.

Metrics with custom groupings appear using the custom name you configured for the grouping. In the example below, the default Jira metrics appear alongside custom groupings called Buggs, Done, and To Do:

Jira metrics are displayed in the table for Team A and Team B

Available Jira metrics​

The following Jira metrics are available in Eng Intelligence. Expand the tabs below to see how the metrics are calculated.

Issues completed

The number of issues completed in a given time period.

Calculation

Assume that you have a selected time period of 1/1/2024 - 2/1/2024.

There are 4 Jira tickets with varying resolution dates:

  • Ticket 1: 1/5/2024, Entity 1
  • Ticket 2: 12/1/2023, Entity 1
  • Ticket 3: 1/15/2024, Entity 2
  • Ticket 4: NULL, Entity 2

Entity 1 has 1 ticket completed during the timeframe (Ticket 1).
Entity 2 has 1 ticket completed during the timeframe (Ticket 3).

Story points completed

The number of story points completed in a given time period.

Calculation

Assume that you have a selected time period of 1/1/2024 - 2/1/2024.

There are 5 Jira tickets with varying resolution dates and story points:

  • Ticket 1: 1/5/2024, 3 points, Entity 1
  • Ticket 2: 1/17/2024, null (0) points, Entity 1
  • Ticket 3: 12/1/2023, 5 points, Entity 1
    • This ticket does not fall within the selected time period.
  • Ticket 4: 1/15/2024, 8 points, Entity 2
  • Ticket 5: Null, 2 points, Entity 2
    • This ticket does not fall within the selected time period.

Entity 1 has 3 points. Entity 2 has 8 points.

Average days to complete

The average time it takes, in days, to complete an issue in a given time period.

Calculation

Assume that you have a selected time period of 1/1/2024 - 2/1/2024.

There are 5 Jira tickets with varying resolution dates. For each ticket, the day count is based on (Resolved Date) - (Created Date).

  • Ticket 1: 1/5/2024, 3 days, Entity 1
  • Ticket 2: 1/10/2024, 5 days, Entity 1
  • Ticket 3: 12/1/2023, 5 days, Entity 1
  • Ticket 4, 1/15/2024, 8 days, Entity 2
  • Ticket 5: Null, 2 days, Entity 2

Entity 1: (3 days + 5 days) / 2 = 4
Entity 2: 8 days / 1 = 8

% of sprint completed

The count of completed tickets in any active sprint as a percentage of the total count of tickets in any active sprint for a given time period.

Calculation

Assume that you have selected a time period of 1/1/2024 - 2/1/2024.

There are 4 sprints with varying start and end dates:

  • Sprint 1: 12/01/2023 to 12/15/2023 (not active)
  • Sprint 2: 12/15/2023 to 1/1/2024 (active)
  • Sprint 3: 1/1/2024 to 1/15/2024 (active)
  • Sprint 4: 2/1/2024 to 2/15/2024 (active)

There are 5 Jira tickets aligned with varying sprints, with varying resolution dates:

  • Ticket 1: 12/14/2024, Sprint 1, Entity 1
    • Excluded because of inactive sprint
  • Ticket 2: 2/15/2023, Sprint 4, Entity 1
    • Resolution date not within selected timeframe, but in active sprint. This counts toward the total number of tickets.
  • Ticket 3: 1/14/2023, Sprint 3, Entity 1
    • Resolution date is within selected timeframe and sprint is active. This counts as a resolved ticket and toward the total number of tickets.
  • Ticket 4: 12/17/2023, Sprint 2, Entity 2
    • Resolution date occurred before the timeframe, and in active sprint. This counts as a resolved ticket and toward the total number of tickets.
  • Ticket 5: Null resolution date, Sprint 2, Entity 2
    • Resolution date not within selected timeframe, but in active sprint. This counts toward the total number of tickets.

To calculate the metric, we look at the # tickets resolved before the end of the sprint AND the end of the evaluation window, divided by total # tickets during the selected timeframe: Entity 1: 1 resolved ticket / 2 total = 50%
Entity 2: 1 resolved tickets / 2 total = 50%

Issues completed (custom grouping)

The number of issues completed in a given time period for a customized grouping of issues.

The issue grouping is customizable, and can be made up of a combination of label, component, and issue types. The label, component, or issue type you specify for a grouping must also exist in Jira.

  • For example, you could configure a “Project A Bugs” grouping in Cortex that maps to a combination of Issue type: Bug and Component: Project A. The “Project A Bugs” grouping would become a column in the table, and Eng Intelligence will display the number of tickets closed for the selected time period matching the configuration of Issue type: Bug and Component: Project A.

See Configure an issue grouping below for instructions on configuring groupings.

Calculation

Assume that you have selected a time period of 1/1/2024 - 2/1/2024.

There are two groupings configured:

  • Grouping 1: Label: Engineering and Issue type: Bug.
  • Grouping 2: Component: Backend

There are 5 Jira tickets with varying resolution dates:

  • Ticket 1: 1/5/2024, Label: Engineering, Issue type: Story, Entity 1
  • Ticket 2: 1/10/2024, Label: Engineering, Issue type: Bug, Entity 1
  • Ticket 3: 1/20/2023, Component: Backend, Entity 1
  • Ticket 4: 1/15/2024, Component: Backend, Entity 2
  • Ticket 5: NULL, Label: Engineering, Issue type: Bug, Entity 2

Entity 1:

  • For Grouping 1, there was 1 ticket within the time period (Ticket 1).
  • For Grouping 2, there was 1 ticket within the time period (Ticket 3).

Entity 2:

  • For Grouping 1, there were 0 tickets within the time period.
  • For Grouping 2, there was 1 ticket within the time period (Ticket 4)

Configuring groupings for Jira metrics​

Configure an issue grouping​

You can add custom groupings based on labels, issue types, and components. Number of tickets completed for each grouping will be calculated in Eng Intelligence using the custom name you configure for the grouping.

  1. Navigate to the Eng Intelligence settings page and click the Issue tracking tab.
  2. On the right side of the page, click Add issue grouping.
    On the right side, click "Add issue grouping"
  3. In the modal, configure the issue grouping:
    • Name: Enter a name for the grouping.
    • Type: In the dropdown, select at least one issue type you want to track.
    • Component: Enter the name of the Jira component you want to track.
    • Label: Enter the name of the Jira label you want to track.
  4. Click Save grouping.