Fix Technical Debt NOW!

Technical debt is a lot like leaky pipes

I am very fortunate to spend time with smart people.  The day goes by faster when you spend it with intelligent and capable people.  One of those talented people is a former colleague of mine, Larry Gassik.  He was asking me a few questions about technical debt, and it occurred to me that I have not shared many of my thoughts about it on the blog.  Technical debt is becoming a growing concern in the agile community as more teams expand into enterprise systems and confront legacy code.  This week a brief conversation on technical debt.

When I think about technical debt, I use the metaphor of plumbing.  Indoor plumbing has existed since Roman times, but its innovations only became global in the 20th century.  Thanks to plumbing, the spread of cholera have ended.  Indoor plumbing has given millions of people clean drinking water and helped reduce pollution.  Plumbing is so ubiquitous that the only time we notice it is when it is not working.  When a toilet backs up or a pipe bursts, we become very aware of the effects of plumbing on our lives.

The “if it isn’t broke don’t fix it,” attitude we have about plumbing is prevalent in the business world.  Many business professionals in the corporate world are focused on shareholder value and profitability.  When business professionals think about technology, it is either an expense or inconvenience.  It is why many organizations have not made the switch to cloud-based systems and use old versions of Microsoft office.  To them, the investment of money is not worth the rate of return.  The reality is that not paying attention to older technology systems is just as negligent as ignoring the maintenance of your home; you risk broken pipes and greater expenses caused by water damage.

The technology of pipes and plumbing has changed over the centuries to be safer and less expensive.  In Roman times, pipes were lead.  The contaminated drinking water caused outbreaks of “Saturnism” which was a polite term for lead poisoning.  Terracotta pipes followed, but those broke down over time thanks to tree roots and natural decay.  Iron pipes came along, but they were brittle and caused water to be rusty.  Copper pipes came along and have been a good solution, but they are expensive and require welding which creates maintenance a problem.  Today, most new construction relies on PVC pipes because they do not corrode, are inexpensive, and easy to maintain.  If the materials of plumbing can change so radically, image what is happening with technology moving at the speed of the internet.

Forty years ago, while the Sex Pistols were singing “Anarchy in the U.K.” there was no personal computer market in the United States.  Microsoft and cellular phones did not exist, and a modem was fast if its speeds were 300 bits per second.  Mainframes dominated computing, and most business transactions were done over the phone or in person.  Compare that business environment to smartphones, personal computers, and Gigabit speed internet we have today.  There is no credible way the technology of 1977 could support the needs of business today.  The difference between the needs of the firm and the ability of the technology to support the business is something agile professionals call technical debt.

Technical debt is cancer threatening to metastasize and kill the business.  Here is how it happens.  Slow or ineffective systems undermine customer confidence.  Weak confidence means less use and less use guarantees less money for the company to maintain the system.  Less money translates into slower time to market for new features and updating the system.  It means employees and IT professionals will take shortcuts to bypass the pokey system.  With the system jury-rigged to address business problems, it becomes more expensive to maintain, and improvements take longer to roll out.  Finally, you create a situation where the system fails, and it does not provide benefit to the business.  If you pay attention to the technical debt, you can avoid this kind of failure.

A business with significant technical debt will have trouble attracting talent.  Computer professionals being smart, know what technologies the market supports, and they are terrified of having skills which are obsolete.  It means they will gravitate to businesses and projects which have a smaller portion of the technical debt.  It also means that college graduates will avoid working for companies with old technologies.

Technical debt is the difference between what the business needs and what they technology systems support.  If you do not address technical debt, it is a threat to the success of the firm.  Finally, the mitigation of technical debt is no different than routine household maintenance.  Do the right thing and focus on technical debt before the pipes burst in your business.

Until next time.