Why Invest In Technical Debt
Why invest in technical debt? The app works fine, doesn't it?
One of the stakeholders of a scale-up is in front of me. This question is one many tech leaders face. With no major technical improvements in over two years, metaphorical duct tape held one of their applications together.
From a business perspective, it's a valid concern. Why upgrade when things seem functional? After all, users don't care about frameworks or design patterns, right? Here's the reality: Neglecting technical debt is a ticking time bomb.
📉 Quality Degradation: Over time, accumulated technical debt erodes product quality, affecting user experience.
🐌 Innovation Bottleneck: Old, rigid systems hinder the implementation of new features and improvements.
💰 Increased Costs: Maintenance costs skyrocket as systems become more complex and outdated.
🏃 Talent Retention: Top engineers are less likely to work on outdated, problematic codebases.
👮♀️ Security Risks: Older systems are more vulnerable to security threats.
The challenge? Finding balance. Some engineers avoid addressing technical debt to please stakeholders, while others push for constant rewrites. Neither extreme is sustainable.
As technical leaders, we must:
- Educate stakeholders on the long-term impact of technical debt
- Integrate debt reduction into regular development cycles
- Quantify the business value of technical improvements
- Learn to say "no" to feature work when necessary
- Foster a culture of continuous improvement
Remember: It's not about tricking each other into getting what we want. It's about engineering and business collaborating for sustainable, long-term success.