Conquering Technical Debt
to eliminate the risk of codebase obsolescence.
Our analysis of over 340 company codebases reveals that full and partial rewrites are a frequent occurrence. Software engineering is unique in that the work produced is entirely invisible to the business leaders who authorize and fund it. This lack of transparency often results in poorly crafted code that is difficult for other developers to understand. When a developer leaves a company, their code is typically labeled as “unmaintainable legacy code” and targeted for rewriting. Unfortunately, this new code quickly becomes classified as technical debt once its author departs, leading to an endless cycle of accumulating technical debt over time.
If your company has faced ongoing Technical Debt Sprints that have significantly reduced your engineering team’s productivity, your codebase may be at serious risk of obsolescence. It’s crucial to engage us to take immediate action to mitigate this risk.
Excessive Technical Debt is the primary cause of codebase obsolescence, as evidenced by our analysis of 340 companies, encompassing an aggregate of 12 billion lines of code and 556,000 full-time engineers. The table below shows the average percentage of software development investments that became obsolete as of Dec 31, 2023.
Edensoft Labs can guide you on the path to significantly reducing these losses by:
Step 1: Visualize your source code level Technical Debt across your codebase(s)
Utilize our Technical Debt MRI analytics to visualize the extent of Technical Debt across all your codebases. By drilling down into your codebase history, you can identify the primary sources of waste. This insight will enable your business and technical teams to enhance collaboration processes, effectively monitor, and reduce future waste.
Step 2: Apply the remedies discovered by our Code Maintainability analytics.
Our analytics generate actionable lists of source code maintainability issues, assignable to individual developers. This enables developers to improve their code's maintainability, minimizing the risk of it becoming unmanageable legacy code if they leave the team. These insights prioritize and address the most critical issues first. Additionally, clients can choose mentoring from Edensoft Labs to train their developers in utilizing our ADAM AI technology, significantly accelerating refactoring efforts compared to traditional methods.
Step 3: Address architectural level Technical Debt
Addressing source code-level Technical Debt is essential for empowering architectural-level refactoring. By resolving issues at the source code level, the entire team gains a better understanding of the current code, enabling them to effectively debate and plan larger-scale architectural refactoring. Each of your software development teams will be trained to document known architectural Technical Debt in a way that is visible and comprehensible to both business and technical teams. This transparency greatly facilitates discussions between Product Management and Engineering Management, allowing for the effective scheduling and addressing of architectural Technical Debt to ensure the long-term viability of your product codebases.
Summary: Benefits of Technical Debt Management
Implementing these steps will provide the following benefits:
1. Extended Codebase Longevity: Reduce the risk of obsolescence and the need for frequent rewrites.
2. Increased Developer Productivity: A well-maintained codebase allows developers to work efficiently, as if running on pavement rather than through mud.
3. Improved Collaboration: Enhanced transparency and communication between business and technical teams.
4. Cost Savings: Minimize the financial burden of code rewrites and maintenance.
5. Accelerated Refactoring: Achieve 10x refactoring speed with Edensoft Labs’ ADAM AI technology.
6. Enhanced Agility: Quickly adapt to new requirements and market changes.
7. Long-Term Viability: Ensure the sustained success of your software products.
These benefits will help your company shift from investing in Technical Debt to investing in Technical Wealth. True business agility is empowered by extensive code reuse in new developments.