More than 69 percent of IT leaders identify technical debt as a major threat to their companies’ ability to innovate, according to a new report from OutSystems.
In OutSysem’s latest report, “The Growing Threat of Technical Debt examines the cost of technical debt facing businesses across industries and geographies.
OutSystems CEO and Founder Paulo Rosado, said the combination of old code along with the new generation of mobile apps, stack applications, and SaaS sprawl are robbing organisations of resources, time, and the ability to innovate.
“This report proves that technical debt will continue to compound, and requires a new approach to move past it and innovate at a pace and scale for true competitive advantage.”
As businesses strive to rebuild following the challenges of the past year, technical debt has emerged as a major roadblock to innovation and recovery, especially for enterprises focused on growth.
He said that technical debt is a technical design or development choice made for short-term benefit with long-term consequences. Across industries, this results from the development of solutions implemented quickly to maximise speed, rather than optimising for the future.
Based on a global survey of 500 IT leaders, the OutSystems report highlights the challenges companies face as they confront the many causes of technical debt, including pressure to meet deadlines, constant change in the marketplace, and outdated technology.
The report found that 69 percent of IT leaders say technical debt poses a fundamental limit on their ability to innovate, along with 61 percent saying it drags on their company’s performance and 64 percent agreeing it will continue to have a major impact in the future.
There is a massive opportunity cost for businesses of all sizes across all industries as they dedicate time, money, and other resources into technical debt instead of innovation. On average, businesses spend approximately a third of their IT budget addressing technical debt – this jumps to 41 percent for enterprises.
The report said that there was not a sole cause of technical debt, though IT leaders cite too many development languages/frameworks (52 percent ), turnover within the development team (49 percent ), and accepting known defects to meet release deadlines (43 percent ).
Businesses continue to delay addressing technical debt, further exacerbating the issue. Only 20 percent say tech debt is something they’re currently managing well, though 36 percent report they’ll be able to manage tech debt in the future.
Technical debt compounds as companies grow. Enterprises spend 41 percent of their IT budget on technical debt, while small businesses spend 27 percent .
