Glossary · IT & systems
Technical debt
Postponed maintenance that becomes more expensive to fix later.
Technical debt is postponed maintenance on your systems that becomes more expensive to fix later. As with a loan, you borrow time today by choosing a quick fix, and you pay interest later because further changes become harder and slower.
It often arises without any bad intent. Under time pressure you choose a quick route instead of the clean one, or you put off an upgrade because the system still works. Each choice seems reasonable on its own, but together they pile up until the whole thing becomes sluggish and fragile.
You do not have to avoid debt altogether, but you do have to manage it consciously. Know where your quick fixes are and clean them up before they slow you down. Ignored technical debt will one day turn a small change into a large and expensive project.
