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Is technical debt slowing down your organization?

Reports Back

Tech debt is a term widely used to describe an organization’s under-investment in the software it relies upon.

Types of technical debt

Image depicts the types of technical debt using a quadrant with Reckless and Prudent at each end of the horizontal line and Deliberate and Inadvertent at the each end of the vertical line. In a Reckless and Deliberate scenario, teams go for speed over quality without considering the downsides, a ‘Duct tape gamble’ often seen in startups and scaleups. In a Prudent and Deliberate scenario, reams take a considered and risk-based approach, debt is taken on with a realistic plan to pay it off. In a Reckless and Inadvertent scenario, inexperienced teams build up debt without realizing it, often the damage is done before the problem is spotted. Finally in Prudent and Inadvertent scenarios, adept teams accrue debt due to unseen mistakes but have the skills to fix it, this scenario is associated with learning and innovation.
Image depicts the types of technical debt using a quadrant with Reckless and Prudent at each end of the horizontal line and Deliberate and Inadvertent at the each end of the vertical line. In a Reckless and Deliberate scenario, teams go for speed over quality without considering the downsides, a ‘Duct tape gamble’ often seen in startups and scaleups. In a Prudent and Deliberate scenario, reams take a considered and risk-based approach, debt is taken on with a realistic plan to pay it off. In a Reckless and Inadvertent scenario, inexperienced teams build up debt without realizing it, often the damage is done before the problem is spotted. Finally in Prudent and Inadvertent scenarios, adept teams accrue debt due to unseen mistakes but have the skills to fix it, this scenario is associated with learning and innovation.

Five ways tech debt can compromise your business

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Customer experience

 

New features aren’t added as tech debt slows making basic changes, as well as innovation. Customers get frustrated when unexpected events cause systems to fail.

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Operational costs

 

Outdated tech causes delays and increases operational costs. Outage responses and remediation incur costs. Productivity and engineering effectiveness suffer.

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Revenue leakage

 

Manual processes, quick fixes and human error rise with tech debt. Customer data gets siloed in different systems, making it harder to leverage insights.

 

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Talent retention

 

Developers generally don’t want to spend their careers maintaining broken systems. Less tech debt means your talent is driving value instead.

 

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Brand reputation

 

Outages dent reputations, as does an inability to innovate at speed. Tech debt also reduces resilience to cyber attacks and data leaks.

Tackling tech debt

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Listen to your developers.
They are up close to day-to-day tech debt problems and the broader risks

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Listen to your customers. 
Glitches they find may signal deeper problems, make leadership aware

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Watch for rising costs and delays. Tech debt can be an underlying cause, or exacerbate them

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Measure it. Deployment lag and longer developer onboarding times can be indicators

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Prioritize based on risk. 
A forum for business and tech leaders to discuss will help

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Empower engineering teams.
Trust them to fix problems and stop new ones

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Culture of continuous improvement. Approach code and dev support with the right mindset

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Align your business and tech strategies. Disconnect drives tech debt, alignment brings efficiencies

Start managing your tech debt

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Thoughtworks acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land where we work and live, and their continued connection to Country. We pay our respects to Elders past and present. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were the world's first scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians. We celebrate the stories, culture and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders of all communities who also work and live on this land. 

 

As a company, we invite Thoughtworkers to be actively engaged in advancing reconciliation and strengthen their solidarity with the First Peoples of Australia. Since 2019, we have been working with Reconciliation Australia to formalize our commitment and take meaningful action to advance reconciliation. We invite you to review our Reconciliation Action Plan.