Degrading technical debt: strategies for IT decision-makers

*# Technical debt reduction: strategies for IT decision-makers *

Opened at: 21. January 2026 | Reading time: ca. 9 minutes

table of contents

• Introduction: The invisible burden of IT

What are technical debts?

• Yeah. The cost of technical debt: More than just interest

• Strategies to reduce technical debt

• Prevention: How to avoid new debt

• Conclusion: An investment in the future

1. Introduction: The invisible burden of IT

In software development, abbreviations are often used to deliver fast results. You choose a simple but not optimal solution to adhere to a deadline. These compromises are known as 'technical debt'**. Like financial debt, technical debts can also be useful in the short term, but if they are not repaid, the "interests" grow in the form of slowed development, increased susceptibility to errors and decreasing developer morality.

[Legacy](/services/legacy modernization) systems are often a huge mountain of technical debt accumulated over decades. This article explains what technical debts are, what costs they cause and how IT decision-makers can strategically dismantle them.

Two. What are technical debts?

The term, coined by Ward Cunningham, describes the implicit costs of refurbishment that arise from the choice of a simple (limited) solution now instead of a better procedure that would last longer. Technical debt can take many forms:

• Code debts: Bad written, complicated or duplicated code.

• Architektur-Schulden: An outdated or suboptimal system architecture.

• Test training: Missing or insufficient automated testing.

• **Document training:**Old or missing documentation.

Three. The cost of technical debt: More than just interest

The "interests" for technical debt are diverse and often hidden:

• Slower development: Any change in the system becomes more complicated and takes longer.

• ** Increased error rate:** Complex code is more susceptible to errors.

• Slower developer motivation: Nobody likes to work on a marodous code base.

• Innovation store: The IT budget is eaten by maintenance rather than flowing into new features.

4. Strategies for reducing technical debt

The reduction of technical debt requires a conscious strategic decision. It is not a task that can be done "nextly".

• Make debt visible: Create a "Technical Debt Backlog" in which all known debts are recorded and evaluated.

Priorization: Not all debts must be paid back immediately. Priorize based on the pain that causes a guilt and the effort to fix it.

• ** Schedule hard time windows:** Reserve a fixed percentage of time in each sprint or release cycle (