Cybernews
  • News
  • Editorial
  • Security
  • Privacy
    • What is a VPN?
    • What is malware?
    • How safe are password managers?
    • Are VPNs legal?
    • More resources
    • Strong password generator
    • Personal data leak checker
    • Antivirus software
    • Best VPN services
    • Password managers
    • Secure email providers
    • Best website builders
    • Best web hosting services
  • Follow
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Linkedin
    • Flipboard
    • Newsletter

© 2021 CyberNews - Latest tech news, product reviews, and analyses.

Our readers help us create quality content. If you purchase via links on our site, we may receive affiliate commissions. Learn more

Home » Security » Why technical debt is bad for business

Why technical debt is bad for business

by Neil C. Hughes
12 February 2020
in Security
1
IT business table
0
SHARES

In an ideal world, developers would design apps, software, and new systems from the ground up on the foundations of best practice. Well-designed code that makes it easy for future iterations to be implemented will also enable a business to be more agile and innovative.

However, the corporate world is ruled by strict deliverables, budgets, and deadlines. Whether it’s implementing a new solution or maintaining a legacy system, poor decisions and shortcuts are often taken to save time and money. Those that protest that these moves are counterproductive will be told to “just do it.” Welcome to the world of technical debt.

The metaphor of technical debt (TD) was first used in 1992 by Ward Cunningham, who found that poor code dramatically reduces productivity over time. He also warned that although the team does not build up the technical debt, it still rises involuntarily.

Shipping first-time code is like going into debt. A little debt speeds development so long as it is paid back promptly with a rewrite. Objects make the cost of this transaction tolerable. The danger occurs when the debt is not repaid. Every minute spent on not-quite-right code counts as interest on that debt. Entire engineering organizations can be brought to a stand-still under the debt load of an unconsolidated implementation, object-oriented or otherwise.

Ward Cunningham

The early warning signs of technical debt in your business

It often begins with tweaking code to offer a quick fix or get a project over the line and will quickly prevent you from scaling in the future. Time constraints, budgets, and demands from the business are often blamed for the need to compromise. But workarounds, rushed incremental changes, and postponed decisions will quickly create unnecessary complexity that accumulates in your technology stack. 

Fast forward a few years, and business leaders quickly find themselves investing more time, money, and other resources trying to pay off the technical debt that they unwittingly created. Much to their chagrin, leadership teams are faced with the reality that poorly written code will create a technical debt that can last for decades.

As new features are added on top of poorly written code, it will also invite more bugs into the system. As the technical debt continues to build, your productivity grinds to a halt, and output will become much slower, causing low morale within a team. Does this story sound familiar?

The real price of technical debt

Every project and its requirements will evolve and require last-minute changes or modifications. What typically begins as a series of uninformed decisions will quickly generate additional costs. The problems arise when tech teams are forced to revisit legacy systems that have been implemented and need to be managed accordingly.

Project teams will naturally move onto the next value-add project, and the technical debt is left unpaid accumulating interest. Decision-makers need to be reminded that the value the project go-live will deliver today will also involve the cost of fixing the technology in the future. 

Over time, an application might take longer to load and damage the user experience. There is no escaping the fact that the debt will need to be paid at some point. Rushing out bad code and writing it off as technical debt, that you will come back and fix later is also a dangerous game to play. Why would you choose to gamble on your business running efficiently, effectively, and securely?

The real costs of maintaining and building on top of old software solutions are not just financial. As people leave the business, you will have a new team that will inherit these problems. Traditionally, they will struggle to understand the original design and comprehend why poor decisions were made. It can also stop innovation in its tracks as developers focus their efforts on firefighting issues rather than adding value to the business.

Not all technical debt is bad

Technical debt doesn’t have to be bad for business. Just like a financial loan, it can enable you to achieve your goals faster. The problems only surface with the absence of a plan that will address your technical debt later. Just like in your personal life, failing to make your payments will sow the seeds of future problems.

It’s arguably not the debt that is the issue, it’s a failure to manage it that’s the problem. In the business world, the cost of technical debt can involve the sacrificing of flexibility, agility, scalability, security, and ability to innovate. Everything your project or digital transformation initiative set out to achieve will be undone by not managing your technical debt properly.

As you stand at the crossroads, you have two choices. Do you take the faster and easier route that will get you where you need to be, but at a cost? Or do you play the long game and take the harder way with best practice code and design? The reality is that both are valid options, but you need to be aware that each path will come with a different technical debt. 

As an idealist, I like to think our time would be better spent avoiding technical debt entirely by doing things right the first time. Deliberately writing lousy code to make a deadline doesn’t sit well with me. But as a realist, I know that it doesn’t matter if you fix the code today, tomorrow, or five years from now. The reality is your technical debt will still need to be paid in full, and there is no escaping your responsibilities.

ShareTweetShareShare
Comments 1
  1. Larry Boyer says:
    1 year ago

    I’ve been involved with modernizing the “technical debt” of several corporate and government clients. What they all had in common was essentially a succession problem. As older workers retired or neared retirement the debt was unmanagable by new employees. People who understood why code was done a certain way were gone, it made no sense to someone new and ultimatley wasn’t relevant anymore.

    Ultimately everything was built over from scratch in eah of these instances. The same output was produced in a fraction of the time. While initially the old timers were concerned the efficiency would result in them losing their job they ultimately found they were free to do the value added work they actually wanted to do rather than the mundane, time consuming tasks. I would urge businesses and agencies to think about the issue of technical debt before getting to the breaking point.

    Reply
Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Editor's choice

500M LinkedIn user records sold on hacker forum
News

Scraped data of 500 million LinkedIn users being sold online, 2 million records leaked as proof

by CyberNews Team
6 April 2021
5

We updated our leak checker database with more than 780,000 email addresses associated with this leak...

Read more
LinkedIn, FB, Twitter, Clubhouse apps seen on an iPhone

Recent Facebook, LinkedIn and Clubhouse leaks explained

15 April 2021
Cheapest tool to kill satellites? A computer

Cheapest tool to kill satellites? A computer

13 April 2021
A gift to criminals and tyrants? Soon, wireless devices could become object sensors

A gift to criminals and tyrants? Soon, wireless devices could become object sensors

13 April 2021
“Not ideal” from a privacy standpoint: Clubhouse API lets “anyone” scrape public user data

“Not ideal” from a privacy standpoint: Clubhouse API lets “anyone” scrape public user data

12 April 2021
  • Categories
    • News
    • Editorial
    • Security
    • Privacy
  • Reviews
    • Antivirus Software
    • Password Managers
    • Best VPN Services
    • Secure Email Providers
    • Website Builders
    • Best Web Hosting Services
  • Tools
    • Password Generator
    • Personal Data Leak Checker
  • Engage
    • About Us
    • Send Us a Tip
    • Careers
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Linkedin
  • Flipboard
  • Newsletter
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Send Us a Tip
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Vulnerability Disclosure

© 2021 CyberNews - Latest tech news, product reviews, and analyses.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy Policy.
Subscribe For Security Tips And CyberNews Updates
Email address is required. Provided email address is not valid. You have been successfully subscribed to our newsletter!
Our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Home

News

Editorial

Security

Privacy

Resources

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Send Us a Tip

© 2020 CyberNews – Latest tech news, product reviews, and analyses.