Tech Debt: A Tale as Old as Time
Will we ever beat tech debt? Probably not. But manage it? Absolutely. So let’s get into it.
What Is Tech Debt, Really?
Technical debt is the implied cost of future rework caused by choosing a quick or easy solution now instead of a more robust one. It shows up when we say, “We’ll come back and fix that later,” and then… don’t.
But not all tech debt is created equal. At 7Factor, we break it down into two types:
- Technical Debt: This is debt within the codebase: messy architecture, rushed logic, and those “temporary” feature flags that never got cleaned up.
- Product Debt: Product debt stems from broader business decisions, including an unfocused feature set, poor analytics, a lack of documentation, or unclear product direction. These decisions may seem sensible in the moment, but they accumulate and hinder product momentum.
Then there’s intentional vs. unintentional tech debt:
- Intentional tech debt is deliberate. For example, building a feature behind a feature flag. If the plan is to keep that feature live permanently, the flag becomes redundant. Cleaning it up is intentional tech debt, yes, but still important. It requires awareness and space to prioritize the cleanup.
- Unintentional tech debt creeps in. Like security flaws in third-party packages, no one planned for them, but someone still has to go back, audit the impact, and refactor accordingly. This kind of debt is harder to clean up and takes valuable engineering hours.
How Tech Debt Impacts Business
Like financial debt, tech debt adds up fast and starts charging interest. It doesn’t just live in the codebase, it affects:
- Developer Morale: Nothing kills motivation faster than wrestling with broken patterns or fragile code. If developers are raising the same problems over and over, it's either frustrating, a security concern, or both.
- Long-Term System Health: Tech debt can turn healthy systems into legacy ones. Teams struggle to patch security, update dependencies, or build new features.
- Velocity & Innovation: When you’re spending hours cleaning up the past, there’s less time to create the future.
And it creates this tension: "We know this system isn't sustainable." But the team doesn’t always have the space or support to clean it up.
What 7Factor Does Differently
At 7Factor, we don’t treat tech debt like a future problem. If it fits within our estimated timebox, we address it. Our mindset is simple:
“Leave the code better than you found it.”
Whether it’s removing old feature flags, updating deprecated libraries, or adding in-unit testing, we clean up as we go. If it’s too big to address immediately, we document it and work with the team to carve out space for cleanup later.
We do this not just for ourselves, but for the next developer who touches that code. For the teams relying on healthy infrastructure. For the businesses that need software to move them forward.
Because at the end of the day, tech debt isn’t just a code problem; it’s a people and process problem. And we’re committed to solving it at the root.
Let’s Have a Real Conversation About Tech Debt
This isn’t about asking "Are you struggling with tech debt?" You already know the answer.
It’s about what comes next.
If you’ve got that unspoken list of things your team is always working around but never solving, we can help you face them head-on.
Let’s talk about making cleanup part of your roadmap, not an afterthought.
Tech debt isn’t going away. But with the right team, it doesn’t have to hold you back either.