Enterprises have been implementing digital transformation initiatives for over a decade, but even now, most of those efforts fall short. What gives? Digital leaders frequently focus the effort on software. Software, however, is not the point of digital transformation. Such transformation is indeed software-powered, but even more so, it is customer-driven. Customer-driven change as broad […]
In our previous installment, Jason Bloomberg explored the challenges of delivering innovative AI-based functionality while depending upon legacy architectures. All too often, the design expectations of new and differentiating features are at odds with the massive architectural debt that exists within past systems. Any enterprise that is not agile enough to respond to customer needs […]
It’s not often that software developers and practitioners get to consume a study that so deeply reflects the cause and solution to significant problems they face. Architectural technical debt is one common area that is not always discussed but is often felt by anyone working in software development. In Building and evaluating a theory of […]
Technical debt is a problem at the best of times, but during periods of rapid innovation, it can become overwhelming. Innovation, after all, is never linear. It comes in fits and starts, with dead ends and sudden turns aplenty. Every twist in this tale of innovation leaves something behind – some tool or experiment that […]
Technical debt has become a catch-all term to explain system failures, extended-release cycles, and increased maintenance costs. When technical budgets are submitted, reducing technical debt has become a line item. Everyone assumes an understanding of technical debt. Yet, technical debt is more than “smelly” code. Architectural technical debt (ATD) looks at the components of the […]
For any software application that continually evolves and requires updates, accumulating at least some technical debt is inevitable. But unfortunately, when left unmanaged, its downsides can quickly become unsustainable for your business. An inability to manage technical debt is a big problem for today’s companies. A 2022 McKinsey study found that tech debt amounts to […]
“Not all debt is bad debt” is a concept typically reserved for financial experts and budgeting gurus. There are, after all, good types of debt: mortgage loans, well-researched business loans, and even credit card debt that is paid off every month without ever charging interest. The issue is bad debt: high-interest car loans, personal loans, […]
Technical debt is a broad topic that’s getting a lot of attention—and for good reason. The industry has a growing number of horror stories about outright infrastructural failures, and every company that’s older than a couple of years can almost feel the shadow of unresolved technical debt through slowdowns in release cycles, glitchy performance, and […]
For over 400 years, people have used the adage, “can’t see the forest for the trees,” to indicate that individuals are so focused on parts of a situation that they lose sight of the bigger picture. The same sentiment is often applied to development teams who appear to ignore or deprioritize more significant issues when […]
All businesses that depend on modern technology are affected by technical debt. According to a recent McKinsey survey, 10% to 20% of business tech budgets reserved for new projects is redirected to resolve issues related to tech debt. Even worse, unchecked tech debt can lead to operational disruption, slow engineering velocity, and stunt innovation. In […]
