Release Time Calculator
Calculate end-to-end release time from build trigger through production deployment.
Inputs
CI build and compile time.
Automated test execution time.
Time to publish artifacts (push image, upload package).
Deploy to staging and run validation/smoke tests.
Manual approval gate wait time (0 for auto-promote).
Time to deploy to production.
Total Release Time
71.0minutes
Release Time
1.18hours
Automated Pipeline Time
41.0minutes
Approval Wait Share
42%
Step by step
Automated pipeline
8 + 15 + 3 + 10 + 5
= 41.0 min
Approval wait
30 min
= 42% of total
Total release time
41.0 + 30
= 1.18 hours
How it works
End-to-end release time = build + test + publish + staging + approval + production. Manual approval gates often dominate total release time. Automating promotion decisions (via canary analysis or automated quality gates) is the biggest lever for reducing release cycle time.
Formula
Release Time
release = build + test + publish + staging + approval + prodDeploy
- build
- CI build time
- test
- Test suite time
- approval
- Manual approval wait
- prodDeploy
- Production deployment time
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I reduce the approval wait?
Implement automated quality gates (canary analysis, error rate thresholds, performance benchmarks) that auto-promote if criteria pass, reserving manual approval only for high-risk changes.
What's a good target for total release time?
Elite DORA performers deploy on-demand with release times under 1 hour end-to-end. Most organizations should aim to reduce release time iteratively by identifying and eliminating the largest bottleneck.