The Pandemic Gap: 78 per cent of firms report ‘technical debt’
New data has revealed that 78 per cent of organisations have taken on greater levels of technical debt in the last year.
Software AG’s annual Situation Report surveyed over 700 IT decision makers from the U.S., U.K., Germany and France, and found that global IT professionals feel that technical debt plays an important role in their digital transformation efforts. They also have a greater acceptance of it now, because of the pandemic.
During these unprecedented times nearly nine in ten organisations said that the pandemic has made them more aware of technical debt, with 83 per cent saying that they are now more open to accruing it.
Technical debt is defined as coding or development that is left undone or unfinished at the time that the application/platform goes live.
Accruing technical debt can help organisations quickly solve challenges around efficiency or operational procedures, as well as capitalise on opportunities to win new customers or capture new markets.
As a result, 94 per cent of organisations believe that technical debt is an important part of their transformation strategy, allowing them to launch products and services faster and capitalise on market opportunities.
Despite its importance, and even though 82 per cent say they can assess all or most of their technical debt, more than half don’t have a formal strategy for managing it. This will become a crucial issue in the future as two thirds fear that technical debt could slow down their transformation progress.
Sanjay Brahmawar, chief, Software AG said: “The pandemic has dramatically accelerated many things when it comes to technology and transformation. Technical debt is just one of them. Organisations that are resilient, digital and connected are well positioned to use technical debt positively, to become more agile and responsive to customers, employees and market conditions.”
Managing Technical Debt
The research shows that data and processes existing in silos is the top challenge to paying off technical debt. A lack of internal alignment is also cited amongst the top challenges – showing that both technological and cultural progress needs to be made to turn technical debt into the positive phenomenon that it can be.
Some technical debt is intentional. For instance, nearly all (95 per cent) who accrued it by implementing hybrid/remote working say it’s a ‘good debt’.
Additionally, most (86 per cent) believe that being able to launch new products and/or services makes it worth accruing technical debt. More than nine in ten say technical debt is important to their transformation strategy, their growth strategy, or their business culture.