Technical debt, or ‘tech debt’, refers to the implied cost of additional software engineering rework caused by choosing an easy solution now instead of using a better approach that would take longer. When people hear the term ‘technical debt’, they immediately assume it’s a problem for the IT team to fix: something mysterious buried deep in the code that only engineers need to know about. In reality, technical debt is much more than an engineering issue, it has a direct and measurable impact on your business, which is why measuring and managing it is so vital.
By Jan Willem Klerkx, CEO, BonCode
See ‘technical debt’ differently
We’ve said it before, and we’ll keep saying it: technical debt isn’t just a technical issue. It’s a management issue. It’s a business issue, and if left unchecked, it can hurt your company’s productivity, agility, and business continuity. So here are three reasons why measuring and managing technical debt should be on every leader’s radar.
1. Low productivity: money left on the table
Software engineers aren’t cheap. A team of ten can easily cost your organization more than a million a year once salaries and benefits are factored in. If that team is slowed down by poorly maintained software, you’re losing significant value.
We’ve seen cases where a small reduction in technical debt increased productivity by three or four times. That means more features delivered, more bugs fixed, and faster time to market, without hiring anyone new. Whether you’re focused on growth or forced to tighten budgets, this translates into serious money saved or gained.
2. Business continuity: staying online and reducing risk
I often hear from business leaders who are frustrated that their teams can’t keep pace with competitors. They want to move quickly, but new features take too long to build, or systems feel fragile. Technical debt is frequently the root cause: they just didn’t know it yet.
If your competitors can outpace you on delivery because their systems are in better shape, the risk is more than lost productivity: it’s lost customers. Worse still, software failures tied to technical debt can cause real disruptions to your operations. Business continuity directly suffers when code quality is ignored.
3. Accountability: demonstrating control at the top
There’s also a governance angle that many overlook. At board level, there’s an expectation, and in some cases, a legal obligation, to demonstrate you are in control of the business. That includes your software. High technical debt shows the opposite: You are not in control.
At BonCode, we’ve helped clients track and report on their software’s maintainability using clear, aggregated scores (out of 100). Reporting this way gives executives visibility, reassurance, and proof they are actively managing a core business risk.
Take the first step towards tackling technical debt
BonCode provides the specialist tools and expertise to help organizations measure, monitor, and manage their technical debt. Whether it’s boosting productivity, protecting continuity, or giving your board the confidence they need, we help you turn an invisible engineering problem into something visible and actionable.
My advice? Start the conversation today. Technical debt doesn’t go away on its own, and by the time it becomes a serious business problem, it’s already too late.
