diff --git a/core/api/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/core/MetricsHelper.java b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/core/MetricsHelper.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7c9a715
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+++ b/core/api/src/main/java/org/onlab/onos/core/MetricsHelper.java
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2014 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.onlab.onos.core;
+
+import org.onlab.metrics.MetricsComponent;
+import org.onlab.metrics.MetricsFeature;
+import org.onlab.metrics.MetricsService;
+
+import com.codahale.metrics.Timer;
+
+/**
+ * Collection of utility methods used for providing Metrics.
+ */
+public interface MetricsHelper {
+
+    /**
+     * Returns MetricService instance.
+     *
+     * @return MetricService instance
+     */
+    abstract MetricsService metricsService();
+
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a Timer instance with given name.
+     *
+     * @param component component name
+     * @param feature   feature name
+     * @param name      timer name
+     * @return          Timer instance
+     */
+    default Timer createTimer(String component, String feature, String name) {
+        final MetricsService metricsService = metricsService();
+        if (metricsService != null) {
+            MetricsComponent c = metricsService.registerComponent(component);
+            MetricsFeature f = c.registerFeature(feature);
+            return metricsService.createTimer(c, f, name);
+        }
+        return null;
+    }
+
+}