Definition

Technical debt is the implied cost of additional rework caused by choosing an easy or limited solution now instead of using a better approach that would take longer.

Description

For small enterprises, technical debt is an effect of using substandard or quick approaches to swiftly launch a product or service.

At times, when businesses look for fast development, it may choose a quicker and less optimal solution in software development. The idea is to meet immediate goals, in tight  deadlines because of resource constraint but this might generate technical debt.

This approach might result in a code that is less efficient. It might be harder to maintain and more prone to errors.

Over a period of time, piling up of such small issues can affect the future development. Avoiding these issues can increase the complexity of implementing new features when needed to reduce technical debt. Try to rectify errors and reduce technical debt even though it requires rework.

Understanding technical debt can help you balance short-term needs with the long-term health and sustainability of a codebase.

Importance of Technical Debt for small businesses

These are the reasons for which the technical debt for small businesses is important:

1. Cost management: By reducing the need for significant rework and long-term maintenance expenditures, you can manage the technical debts. It will assist small enterprises in keeping costs under control.
2. Resource Efficiency: Small businesses with limited resources can benefit from lower technical debt. Companies frees up their development teams to work on new ideas and projects instead of troubleshooting existing ones.
3. Customer happiness: Having less technical debt can result in more dependable and effective software, improving user experience and customer satisfaction. These factors are critical for small firms trying to compete in the market.
4. Agility: Small organisations frequently have to respond swiftly to opportunities and market developments. By taking control of their technical debt, companies can ensure their software quickly grows and updates. It prevents software from falling apart without experiencing significant problems. If your software is at par with the market, it instills confidence and control.
5. Competitive Advantage: By controlling technical debt, small firms can preserve their competitive advantage by maintaining a solid, high-performing product that swiftly integrates new features and enhancements.

How to reduce technical debt?

Step 1: Identify and Prioritise Debt:

Assess your systems and conduct a thorough evaluation to pinpoint areas with potential technical debt. You must then identify areas that pose the most significant risk or hinder growth and focus on those first.

Step 2: Allocate Resources:

At any time in your business, you must set aside funds specifically for addressing technical debt. And then, consider hiring or training employees with the skills to tackle these issues.

Step 3: Refactor and Improve Code:

Make sure that you optimise existing code for readability, maintainability, and efficiency. It is obvious that you meet consistent code quality and easier collaboration.

Step 4: Implement Testing:

Try and develop automated tests to catch issues at an early stage of development. Also, routine testing should be conducted to identify and fix problems promptly.

Step 5: Plan for the Future:

Make conscious decisions to avoid creating new technical debt. Proactively schedule ongoing maintenance to prevent debt accumulation and maintain control over your systems.

Types of technical debt for small businesses

These are the types of technical debt for small businesses:

1. Design Debt:

Suboptimal software architecture or design patterns that hinder scalability and performance. Includes tightly coupled components, lack of modularity, and inadequate abstraction layers.

2. Test Debt:

A sufficient or low-quality testing coverage leads to undiscovered bugs and less reliable software. Examples are missing unit tests, integration tests, or automated testing processes.

3. Infrastructure Debt:

Outdated or inefficient infrastructure that affects deployment, performance, and scalability. This includes legacy systems, obsolete hardware, and a need for more automation in deployment processes.

4. Process Debt:

More efficient or updated development processes that slow down the workflow and increase the risk of errors. Includes a lack of agile practices, inadequate project management tools, and inefficient collaboration methods.

Example

When Twitter first started, its development team concentrated on releasing features fast in order to increase the number of users and establish a foothold in the market. They consequently accrued technical debt as a result of their quick decisions that put speed ahead of scalability and code quality. This technical debt eventually showed itself as problems with system availability, performance, and adding new features. Refactoring and rearchitecting their codebase was a major investment for Twitter in order to address these problems, enhance system reliability, and accommodate future expansion.

FAQ

What is technical debt in Scrum?

Technical debt in Scrum refers to the accumulated backlog of necessary improvements or fixes in the codebase that arise when development teams take shortcuts to meet sprint goals or deadlines. These shortcuts can lead to suboptimal code quality, which requires future rework.

How does technical debt occur in Scrum?

Technical debt occurs in Scrum when teams prioritise speed over quality, often to meet sprint commitments or deliver features quickly. This might involve writing quick-and-dirty code, skipping tests, or postponing refactoring tasks.