"improve my team’s software development process": Defect Find and Fix Rates
This relates to the number of defects or bugs raised against the number of fixes which have been committed or verified.
I'd have to say this is one of the really important metrics because it gives you two things:
1. Code churn. How much code is being changed on a daily/weekly basis (which is important when you are trying to stabilize for a release), and,
2. Shows you whether defects are ahead of fixes or vice-versa. This shows you how well the development team is responding to defects raised by the QA/testers.
A low fix rate indicates the team is busy working on other things (features perhaps). If the bug count is high, you might need to get developers to address some of the defects.
A low find rate indicates either your solution is brilliant and almost bug free, or the QA team have been blocked or have another focus.
