Technical debt can mean different things to different people, but the main business challenge Central Government business and IT leaders face is pervasive technical debt, which can have a huge impact on growth and adaptability for delivering efficient and effective services to citizens.

Pervasive technical debt includes the accumulation of outdated, inefficient, or incompatible technologies and data which hinders an organisation’s ability to deliver its objectives, which is the consequence of past decisions. Therefore, it is important to understand the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) to fully consider long-term implications of any IT investments made so that they don’t become financial burdens in the future.

CGI’s technical debt blueprint explores these aspects including three key elements of TCO beyond purchase price such as longer-term costs, hidden costs and intangible costs, as well as how building a sustainable IT strategy with reference to technical debt is the best place to start. Developing an IT strategy should feature a set of common aspects and processes to drive technology management utilising the following four approaches to help:

  • Document and maintain technology obsolescence
  • Plan out how and when the technical debt and associated obsolescence will be addressed
  • Intentional decision-making through understanding trade-offs and risks
  • Control to identify and realise business benefit sooner

 

It is also important to consider the seven engineering steps for technical debt management which include:

  1. Technical debt vision
  2. List all IT assets
  3. Evaluate to set criteria
  4. Sort and plan actions
  5. Deliver to plan
  6. Report on progress
  7. Assess the impact

 

Find out more about how we can help reduce operational costs and risks associated with outdated IT assets, improving performance and delivering innovative systems and services, benefitting citizens and employees.