Technical debt is causing concern in many companies. At best, its consequences can put a significant strain on budgets, at worst it can threaten the entire business. At TITANS, we explain how it arises and how to prevent it.
“Let me be clear. We messed up,” said Southwest Airlines Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson. He did so during his testimony before a US congressional hearing on the company’s massive failure and the cancellation of nearly 17,000 of its flights over the Christmas holiday period.
In 2022, a winter storm swept through the U.S. from which many airlines recovered relatively quickly, but Southwest remained an exception. The company’s legacy technology, which couldn’t keep up with the speed of change, caused huge damage. The result was two million disgruntled passengers and a $140 million fine from the federal government.
The airline has already had systemic problems in the past that led to minor meltdowns, but it never invested in improving its IT infrastructure. Southwest remains an example of a scenario in which brands create so-called technical debt and eventually must pay it off when an emergency occurs.
Technical debt, which is growing in many organisations, is one of the key issues in business today. It is the suspension of software innovation that the leadership of companies is requesting from IT teams and the prioritisation of quick solutions at the expense of quality. Not only do these slow down the performance of companies, but over time they will also require ever-increasing costs to redesign or maintain.
A report by OutSystems warns that technical debt is depriving the budgets of large companies of around 40 % of their funding. Brands that develop a strategy to address technical debt gain significant competitive advantages as a result.
At TITANS, even after 11 years in business, we’re excited to continue to help them do so by supplying them with experienced IT specialists. After all, the best minds tend to operate on a freelance basis, and it doesn’t pay off to give up on high standards when selecting them. More than 650 of our clients already know this.
Interested in the topic of technical debt? Find out how your company can find more room for innovation:
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What Is IT Outsourcing And How Can It Help Your Project?
If you are also thinking about outsourcing experienced IT talent, you will find all the useful information here.
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