<s>
In	O
software	B-General_Concept
engineering	I-General_Concept
,	O
cycle	B-General_Concept
time	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
software	O
metric	O
which	O
estimates	O
development	O
speed	O
in	O
agile	O
software	O
projects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
cycle	B-General_Concept
time	I-General_Concept
measures	O
how	O
long	O
it	O
takes	O
to	O
process	O
a	O
given	O
job	O
-	O
whether	O
it	O
's	O
a	O
client	O
request	O
,	O
an	O
order	O
,	O
or	O
a	O
defined	O
production	O
process	O
stage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
crucial	O
aspect	O
of	O
measuring	O
the	O
cycle	B-General_Concept
time	I-General_Concept
is	O
considering	O
only	O
the	O
active	O
,	O
operating	O
processing	O
time	O
and	O
discarding	O
any	O
idle	O
,	O
waiting	O
,	O
or	O
service	O
times	O
occurring	O
mid-process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
cycle	B-General_Concept
time	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
useful	O
metric	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
contrast	O
to	O
lead	O
time	O
,	O
which	O
measures	O
the	O
time	O
that	O
the	O
customer	O
waits	O
for	O
their	O
request	O
to	O
be	O
realized	O
,	O
cycle	B-General_Concept
time	I-General_Concept
only	O
counts	O
the	O
time	O
the	O
team	O
spends	O
actively	O
working	O
on	O
the	O
request	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
core	O
use	O
of	O
cycle	B-General_Concept
times	I-General_Concept
is	O
to	O
identify	O
the	O
average	O
development	O
times	O
for	O
specific	O
teams	O
or	O
given	O
request	O
types	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
lets	O
the	O
software	B-General_Concept
engineering	I-General_Concept
manager	O
predict	O
team	O
engagements	O
and	O
better	O
schedule	O
work	O
.	O
</s>
