IT Debt
What larks, had some real fun researching and posting a piece on the whole sordid issue of "IT Debt" (a Gartner phrase - the cost of IT catching up with all it has been asked to do but not yet done). How it relates to the more palettable phrase "IT Backlog" (the IT equivalent of butter mountain), what causes it all, and what can be done... Here's how I net it all out... but if you want to learn more please visit http://blog.microfocus.com/research/it-debt/2732/ - - - - - - - - - - - - Paying Your Way The term IT Debt was introduced to provide some clarity and impetus to what was observed as a growing industry concern. Reactions to this were varied as the debate ensued, though most agreed it was an issue that would require attention. In our view, the headlong rush to rip and replace perfectly good business applications (many of them COBOL based) and replace them with new code that may – or may not – do exactly the same job doesn’t seem wise. Swapping one problem for another is like clearing an overdraft with a loan you can’t pay back – with terrible consequences for your finances. Taking a more balanced view of tackling the factors contributing the backlog avoids unnecessary risk in a long term strategy for operational improvement. And help is at hand to tackle many of the root causes. Arguably the best place to start is with greater focus on the backlog at a systemic level. Isolating and planning backlog busting projects is facilitated by new incarnations of application knowledge technology, and smarter tools for making application changes. Getting the work done needs the right resources. Lots of people are learning COBOL and many of the companies supposedly struggling with ‘legacy’ systems are at the forefront of the digital economy. Longer term, training new generations of Enterprise techies is important. Efforts from Micro Focus and IBM’s master the mainframe initiative suggest that the problem is being met by some smart thinking all round, while the recent celebrations around the mainframe’s 50th birthday have added further impetus to a broader appreciation of the value of that platform. You’re All Set The phrase ‘IT Debt’ is surrounded by ambiguity, which hasn’t helped the industry understand the problem well. Conjecture over the relevance of underlying platform hasn’t helped either. Backlogs are caused by multifarious issues, and it is important to examine those causes within your organization, rather than reacting to the headline of IT Debt. Today, establishing a successful mitigation strategy that tackles root causes is a genuine possibility. The backlog burden need not be out of control. Embracing change by seeking to enhance existing, valuable IT assets using smarter processes and technology, enables backlog to be managed effectively, and without introducing risky, unnecessarily draconian change.