What do out-of-date third party components, a product backlog, and a rushed software launch all have in common? 

All are culprits that cause technical debt (or “tech debt”) to pile up.  

Technical debt is a lot like financial debt – you’re acquiring an asset now and promising to pay for it later. Sonatype CEO Wayne Jackson notes that ignoring tech debt is like a “sugar high” during a software release.  It allows you to ship more software faster, with all sorts of bells and whistles, making both customers and investors happy. 

Until, of course, something vital breaks. This can lead to significant rework and refactoring, increasing your costs and, critically, slowing a development organization’s productivity to a crawl.

Tech debt is a manageable challenge, but it can quickly snowball. Left unchecked, technical debt can become so costly that it undermines a company’s short-term goals and derails the long-term ability to innovate. Some leaders know they will pay the debt eventually, but many others don’t. Those who ignore tech debt are at high risk for catastrophic consequences.  Just ask the management of Equifax or SolarWinds.

How Technical Debt Affects Innovation
Every company is now, at some level, a software company, and so every company has accumulated some form of technical debt. Understanding technical debt is critical to better understanding your software supply chain. In fact, tech debt is a way for you to consider your software supply chain from an angle that isn’t just about cybersecurity. Managing – or eliminating – tech debt before it accumulates enhances your company’s net innovation (raw innovation minus accumulated tech debt).

“Having a healthy software portfolio is about more than just cybersecurity,” says Jackson.  “A strategic focus on net innovation enables sustainable innovation capacity over time while also producing (Read more...)