DevSecOps has evolved from a concept to a board‑level mandate. Security must move at the speed of cloud‑native delivery, and as such DevSecOps metrics are essential to success.
Why do I need DevSecOps metrics?
Without DevSecOps metrics you can’t prove ROI, track improvement, or benchmark against industry peers. Even worse, you may misunderstand your own security maturity, believing you’re further along than you are. Metrics aren’t about checking boxes. They’re about answering business questions:
- Is our software more secure than it was last month?
- How quickly can we detect and fix a vulnerability?
- Are our security investments improving release quality?
These questions matter to CTOs, CFOs, and boards alike. And they’re answered through hard metrics, not hopeful estimates.
ROI in DevSecOps
ROI in DevSecOps is traditionally hard to quantify, but metrics help bridge that gap by feeding both sides of the equation, addressing both risk reduction and operational efficiency. For instance, tracking costs avoided through reduced incident recovery highlights the financial impact of stronger security practices. Similarly, measuring efficiency gained, such as developer hours reclaimed through automated scanning, demonstrates tangible time savings. When measured consistently, these metrics provide clear, compelling insights that resonate in the C‑suite, making the value of DevSecOps not just visible, but undeniable.
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What is OWASP DevSecOps maturity model (DSOMM)?
You wouldn’t measure a sprinter’s performance the same way you measure a marathoner’s. The same logic applies to DevSecOps. The OWASP DevSecOps Maturity Model (DSOMM) divides organizations into four stages: Initial, Managed, Defined, and Optimized. Each stage reflects a different level of maturity in integrating security practices into development and operations workflows. From ad-hoc security checks at the Initial stage to fully automated, continuous security practices at the Optimized stage, DSOMM provides a framework to assess where your organization stands, and where it needs to go to align speed with security.
Each stage requires a different approach to metrics. A Level 1 team won’t benefit from tracking false-positive rates if they’re not even scanning consistently. Meanwhile, a Level 4 team should be correlating metrics across systems to detect anomalies before they become breaches.
This layered model helps you identify which metrics to track now, and which ones will come naturally as you mature.
DevSecOps Platform‑Independent Model (PIM)
Many organizations find it tough to put DevSecOps into practice, especially in industries with strict cybersecurity rules and regulations. The problem often comes down to not having a clear, consistent way to manage fast-paced software development, security, and operations all at once. To build an effective DevSecOps strategy that works for everyone involved, teams need a trusted guide. That’s why the SEI created the DevSecOps Platform Independent Model (PIM), a framework that helps organizations roll out DevSecOps in a way that’s secure, reliable, and built to last. With it, teams can truly take advantage of the speed and flexibility DevSecOps promises, without sacrificing safety.
PIM maps security activities across people, processes, and technology, and is useful when you’re modernizing a legacy CI/CD stack. It shows which tooling gaps stop you from collecting certain metrics (e.g., if secrets‑detection isn’t automated, your pipeline coverage metric will be meaningless).
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DevSecOps metrics you should be tracking
Here’s where it all comes together. These metrics not only demonstrate ROI but help teams continuously improve. By tracking progress across key areas, like vulnerability remediation time, deployment frequency, and security incident rates, organizations gain actionable insights to fine-tune their processes. This data-driven approach fosters a culture of accountability, enables smarter decision-making, and ensures that security becomes an enabler of innovation rather than a blocker.
1. Mean Time to Remediate (MTTR)
How long does it take you to fix a known vulnerability?
- A lower MTTR shows agility and responsiveness.
- Elite teams bring critical MTTR below 24 hours.
2. Vulnerability Escape Rate
How many flaws slip past your pipeline and show up in production?
- This metric directly reflects how effective your DevSecOps implementation really is.
- Escaped vulnerabilities = hidden costs.
3. Pipeline Coverage
What percentage of your systems (code, containers, IaC, APIs) are scanned automatically during CI/CD?
- Higher coverage = fewer blind spots.
- 90%+ is the target for mature teams.
4. Security Test Frequency
How often are automated security tests run?
- More frequent testing catches issues earlier, where they’re cheaper to fix.
- Measure it per commit, per developer, or per day.
5. False-Positive Rate
If developers are spending hours chasing ghost vulnerabilities, that’s wasted time.
- This metric builds trust in security tooling.
- Tuning scanners pays off, both in culture and cost.
6. Compliance Drift Detection
How quickly can you detect when systems drift out of compliance with your baselines?
- Faster detection = fewer audit headaches and lower risk exposure.
- Automate baseline monitoring wherever possible.
7. Change Failure Rate (Security‑related)
What percentage of your deployments fail or require rollback due to security flaws?
- High rates show gaps in your testing or development practices.
8. Cost of a Security Incident
When something does go wrong, what does it cost?
- This is your most tangible ROI marker.
- The more you invest upfront, the lower this number becomes over time.
How to build a metrics program
Building a successful DevSecOps program isn’t just about adopting the right tools, it’s about measuring what matters and turning insights into action. That’s where strong metrics come in. Without it, progress is invisible, and improvement is guesswork. But with the right framework in place, you can track performance, drive accountability, and continuously refine your approach.
- Assess your current maturity. Use OWASP DSOMM to diagnose where you are.
- Prioritize 2–3 key metrics. MTTR, Escape Rate, and Pipeline Coverage are great starters.
- Instrument your pipeline. Integrate SAST, DAST, IaC, container scans, and capture data.
- Automate reporting. Use dashboards (e.g., Grafana, Kibana) to visualize trends over time.
- Establish thresholds. Set gates, like blocking deploys if Escape Rate exceeds 1%.
- Review quarterly. Improve targets, communicate wins, and reinforce your DevSecOps culture.
Partnering with a nearshore team, especially one based in Latin America like Ceiba, comes with clear advantages:
Time-Zone Alignment
Real-time collaboration during U.S. work hours = faster MTTR and more agility.
Cost Efficiency
Access senior security engineers with competitive salaries in comparison with the US.
Process Maturity
Ceiba teams come with pre-built, DSOMM-aligned frameworks that accelerate your journey to Level 3 and beyond.
Built-in Automation
From day one, your pipeline benefits from hardened images, IaC policies, scanning tools, and automated workflows.
When you compare this to building an in-house team from scratch, the ROI becomes clear, especially when you’re reporting on those metrics quarterly.
The culture behind DevSecOps and why matters
No matter how strong your metrics are, they won’t matter if your team doesn’t embrace them. Metrics alone can’t drive transformation, they need to be backed by a culture that values learning, trust, and shared responsibility. High-performing DevSecOps cultures are built on:
- Psychological safety: where engineers feel safe to admit mistakes, ask questions, and raise concerns without fear of blame.
- Continuous improvement: where every incident is treated as an opportunity to grow, not just a failure to fix.
- Cross-functional ownership: where security is integrated into every role, not siloed as someone else’s job.
- Transparency: where metrics are part of everyday conversations, visible in team rituals, retrospectives, and decision-making.
When metrics are woven into the fabric of your culture, not just tracked in a dashboard, they become tools for alignment, empowerment, and progress.
Want to assess your DevSecOps maturity or implement your first set of security KPIs? Let’s talk. We’ll help you map out your current state, select the right metrics, and get your organization measuring what matters most.
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