The Realities of Technical Debt for SMBs
IBM consultants see several common types of technical debt among small businesses, including outdated software or hardware, patched-together systems that don’t integrate well, manual processes that could or should be automated, legacy code and security vulnerabilities that haven’t been addressed.
“Without a defined innovation strategy and combined with all or some of these potential technical debts, a company can easily impair their own digital transformation journey,” Niazi says.
Having technical debt can lead to disadvantages for SMBs, such as unintentionally forcing their teams to spend time mitigating issues instead of building new capabilities to add value to the business, he adds.
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IBM’s report states that 85% of executives say technical debt is a significant barrier to creating a competitive advantage with AI, while 69% say tech debt can render some initiatives financially untenable.
Niazi explains that if a small business’s technical debt is based on quick or low-cost solutions to keep up with innovation, the disadvantages can include higher maintenance costs, slower product development, increased security risks, reduced system reliability and difficulty scaling as the business grows.
“These companies need to shift their mindset to think long-term and assess how their near-term investments can better the business and deliver value over time, rather than create additional hurdles,” he says.
The Benefits of Upgrading Systems and Removing Technical Debt
By upgrading systems and removing technical debt, companies can improve reliability, reduce long-term costs, strengthen security and free up teams to focus on innovation instead of troubleshooting, Niazi explains.
“In the long term, upgrading systems and having a defined strategy and path for innovation allows these organizations to have faster development cycles, making it easier to adopt new technologies that add value to the business,” he says. “Ultimately, leaders of smaller organizations need to focus on creating business value and competitive differentiation for ownership stakeholders.”
How SMBs Can Remove Technical Debt Effectively
IBM believes the most effective approach to innovation and digital transformation, while limiting technical debt, is to combine small, continuous improvements with larger strategic upgrades where needed.
Niazi explains that smaller businesses can reduce technical debt by prioritizing the highest-impact issues, modernizing systems in phases, standardizing tools and platforms, and dedicating ongoing time for maintenance.
“For example, simplifying and consolidating to a single platform can help keep costs down, streamline administration and maintenance, and reduce cyber risks from the need to manage multiple platforms,” he says. “Leaders also need to hold themselves accountable, making sure each phase of innovation is delivering value back to the business before proceeding to the next step of their transformation journey.”
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The IBM report identifies several ways to unlock ROI while reducing technical debt. It advises that “concentrating [AI] initiatives in a few critical areas lets each debt fix accelerate the next project.”
It’s also important to remember that SMBs don’t have to go on the modernization journey alone. Working with a technology partner can help to bridge the gap effectively. Niazi says IBM can help businesses on their innovation journey by providing expertise, tools and scalable technologies that help simplify their digital transformation.
“It’s important for business leaders of any size organization to recognize that addressing technical debt isn’t a one-time exercise,” Niazi says. “Rather, it’s an ongoing discipline that, when built into regular operations, helps businesses stay agile and competitive as technology, market and customer expectations evolve.”
