How To Calculate Merge Request Rate in Sageworks | Arithmix

If you're working in software development, you may have heard the term "merge request rate" thrown around. But what exactly is it, and why is it valuable to calculate? In this article, we'll explore the ins and outs of merge request rate and how to calculate it.

What Is Merge Request Rate?

Merge request rate is a metric used to measure the efficiency of a software development team. It refers to the number of merge requests that are submitted and merged into the main codebase over a certain period of time. Essentially, it's a way to track how quickly and frequently code changes are being integrated into the larger project.

Calculating merge request rate involves dividing the total number of merge requests by the amount of time they were open. For example, if your team had 50 merge requests open over the course of a week, and 40 of them were merged, your merge request rate would be 40/50, or 0.8.

It's worth noting that merge request rate is just one metric among many that can be used to evaluate a development team's performance. However, it can be a useful indicator of how quickly and effectively code changes are being integrated into the larger project.

When Is It Valuable To Calculate Merge Request Rate?

There are a few scenarios in which calculating merge request rate can be particularly valuable:

1. Assessing Team Efficiency

If you're a team lead or manager, you may want to use merge request rate as a way to assess your team's efficiency. A high merge request rate can indicate that your team is able to quickly and effectively integrate code changes, while a low rate may suggest that there are bottlenecks or inefficiencies in the development process.

2. Identifying Areas for Improvement

By tracking merge request rate over time, you may be able to identify areas where your team could improve. For example, if you notice that merge request rate drops significantly during certain periods, you may want to investigate whether there are external factors (like holidays or vacations) that are impacting your team's productivity.

3. Setting Goals and Benchmarks

If you're looking to improve your team's performance, setting goals and benchmarks can be a helpful way to track progress. By establishing a target merge request rate, you can work towards improving your team's efficiency and productivity over time.

Overall, calculating merge request rate can be a valuable tool for assessing team efficiency, identifying areas for improvement, and setting goals and benchmarks. By tracking this metric over time, you can gain insights into how your team is performing and make data-driven decisions to improve your development process.

How Do You Calculate Merge Request Rate in Sageworks

Sageworks itself isn’t naturally geared towards letting you calculate complex metrics like Merge Request Rate. As an alternative, teams typically use products like Arithmix to import data from Sageworks and build out dashboards.

What is Arithmix?

Arithmix is the next generation spreadsheet - a collaborative, web-based platform for working with numbers that’s powerful yet easy to use. With Arithmix you can import data from systems like Sageworks, combine it with data from other systems, and create calculations like Merge Request Rate.

In Arithmix, data is organized into Tables and referenced by name, not by cell location like a spreadsheet, simplifying calculation creation. Data and calculations can be shared with others and re-used like building blocks, vastly streamlining analysis, model building, and reporting in a highly scalable and easy to maintain platform. Data can be edited, categorized (by dimensions) and freely pivoted. Calculations are automatically copied across a dimension - eliminating copy and paste of formulas.

Arithmix is fully collaborative, giving your entire team access to your numbers and the ability to work together seamlessly.

Calculating Merge Request Rate in Arithmix

Calculating metrics like Merge Request Rate is simple in Arithmix. Once you've created your free account, you’ll be able to import your Sageworks data, and use it to create natural language formulas for metrics like Merge Request Rate.

Arithmix is designed to give you the power to build any calculations you want on top of your Sageworks data, while also being easy to use and collaborate on. You can share your dashboards with users inside and outside of your organisation, making it easy to empower your whole team.