How to Overcome Tech Debt Challenges

I was a CTO at a company with a LOT of technical debt. Here's how I handled it. 1. I found someone in the org (non-exec) who cared about the issue and was organized. 2. We created a framework to rank our tech debt & built a common mini "language" to talk about it easily. 3. Next we documented the entire tech ecosystem & applied the framework to categorize it all. 4. We met with business stakeholders like Product & Sales to add their perspective into the ranking. 5. We grouped the tech debt into a) never touch, b) fix ASAP and c) fix incrementally. 6. We calculated the potential ROI on each item to help acquire funding to fix it. (This was difficult). 7. We built a plan for remediation and integrated the plan into the roadmap. 8. We created a tracking / monitoring best practice specifically for the tech debt remediation work. 9. We were pretty hardcore about reporting the ROI up to the CEO on all the tech debt fix work. 10. After a while of doing this tech debt remediation got baked into our organization. What's the big lesson? Anything can be done in an org if its important enough, you focus on it and you work hard to achieve it. Interesting in more content like this? Sign up for my free newsletter at https://buff.ly/4ccyrM0. #TechLeadership #softwaredevelopment #CTO

Most Salesforce orgs are drowning in technical debt and they don't even know it. Here's the brutal truth: McKinsey found that 10-20% of tech budgets get diverted to fixing technical debt. In Salesforce terms? That's your innovation and GTM budget going straight to firefighting instead of growth. The paradox is real, the more successful your Salesforce implementation, the more debt you likely accumulate. What does Salesforce technical debt actually look like? It's not just messy code. It's: -Unused fields cluttering your objects -Multiple triggers without frameworks -Legacy Process Builders and Flows you're afraid to touch -Hard-coded IDs breaking when you least expect it -Duplicate records making your reports unreliable The compound effect is brutal. Just like credit card debt, technical debt grows exponentially. Developers spend 23-42% of their time firefighting instead of innovating. Performance suffers. User adoption drops. Costs skyrocket. Here's your way out: The CLEAR Methodology 1. Classify - Categorize debt by type and urgency 2. List - Create a detailed inventory 3. Evaluate - Assess cost vs. business value 4. Act - Implement in prioritized phases 5. Review - Monitor and prevent new accumulation Start with quick wins: Remove unused fields. Consolidate duplicate reports. Clean inactive users. These high-impact, low-effort moves build momentum. 2025 game-changer: AI-powered tech debt management Agentforce needs solid clean data and efficient processes. AI tools can now automate code analysis, predict maintenance needs, and suggest refactoring, turning debt management from reactive to proactive. The shift-left principle applies here: The earlier you identify debt, the cheaper it is to fix. Don't wait until your org becomes unmaintainable. What's your next step? Start to audit your Salesforce org today to assess how bad it is. Technical debt doesn't have to kill your Salesforce ROI. With the right strategy, transform your org from a source of frustration into a competitive advantage. What's your biggest Salesforce technical debt challenge right now? Drop a comment and share: - The debt that's causing you the most pain - A solution that's worked for your team - What's holding you back from tackling it Let's turn this comment section into a technical debt solutions exchange. Your experience could be exactly what someone else needs to hear. #Salesforce #TechnicalDebt #SalesforceAdmin #SalesforceDeveloper #CLEAR

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐈𝐬 𝐈𝐭 𝐒𝐨 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐑𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬? Ever wonder why it's tough for companies to move away from outdated technology? It’s like trying to upgrade an old car piece by piece instead of buying a new one — both time-consuming and complex. Let’s break down why clearing tech debt is a challenge and how we can tackle it: 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤? 📌𝐂𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬: Upgrading technology can be expensive. Often, companies need to prioritize immediate needs over long-term improvements, pushing tech updates to the back burner. 📌𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Fear of interrupting daily operations can delay upgrades. Nobody wants to halt production or services just to update systems. 📌𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬: Over time, systems become deeply integrated. Changing one part might affect many others, making updates a complex puzzle. 📌𝐋𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞: Sometimes, there just aren’t enough skilled hands to manage and implement new technologies smoothly. 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡: 📌𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: Address tech debt in business plans. Prioritize updates that offer the most value and plan them in stages to manage costs and disruption. 📌𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: Building a skilled team is essential. Invest in training your staff to handle new technologies or hire talent with the necessary expertise. 📌𝐄𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬:  Instead of one massive overhaul, make smaller, manageable updates. This reduces risk and spreads out the cost over time. 📌𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐩: Sometimes bringing in consultants or using managed services can offer the expertise and extra hands needed to tackle big updates. 𝑮𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒓𝒊𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒃𝒕 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒖𝒑𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒔𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒔; 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈-𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒂𝒍𝒔. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔𝒆𝒕. Ready to tackle tech debt in your organization? What’s your first step going to be? Let’s discuss strategies and successes below!

We often hear the term "Technical Debt" in the tech industry, but what is it really and how can we address it? 🔍 What is Technical Debt? Technical debt refers to the 'cost' associated when we choose quicker, shortcut solutions over better, more sustainable ones. Like financial debt, if not managed, it can compound, leading to bigger problems down the road. 🚩 Common Causes of Technical Debt: 1. Rushed Timelines: Pressured by tight deadlines, teams might opt for quick fixes instead of the best solutions. 2. Lack of Standards or Best Practices: Without a consistent approach, the code can become cluttered and hard to manage. 3. Not Enough Testing: Failing to thoroughly test can lead to undiscovered issues. 4. Business Decisions: Sometimes, business needs might push technical considerations aside. 5. Legacy Systems: Over time, systems and technologies become outdated but are still in use. ✅ Addressing Technical Debt: 1. Prioritize: Recognize and prioritize the most critical technical debt items that impact performance or future scalability. 2. Dedicated Refactoring: Allocate specific times or sprints for teams to address and refactor problematic code. 3. Continuous Integration & Testing: Use CI/CD pipelines to catch issues early and often. 4. Documentation: Keep your documentation up-to-date. It helps in understanding why certain decisions were made and how to improve in the future. 5. Educate Stakeholders: Ensure business stakeholders understand the implications of technical debt and the importance of allocating resources to address it. 6. Maintain Standards: Adopt and stick to coding standards and best practices. Remember, it's not about completely avoiding technical debt - that's nearly impossible. It's about managing it wisely, understanding its impact, and making informed decisions. Let's not let our tech debt compound to the point of bankruptcy! 💻❤️ #TechnicalDebt #TechInsights #SoftwareDevelopment #BestPractices Feel free to like, share, and comment your thoughts below! 💬👇

The biggest threat to innovation? It’s not lack of talent. It’s not lack of funding. It’s technical debt. The reality: Every time an employee waits for a slow system to load, that’s lost productivity. Every time a business relies on outdated tools, that’s missed revenue. Every time IT has to patch instead of innovate, that’s stalled transformation. And the worst part? The longer you ignore it, the more expensive it becomes. How it happens: Enterprise leaders unknowingly accumulate technical debt when they: Delay critical system upgrades to “save costs” Patch legacy systems instead of modernizing them Ignore architectural debt while chasing short-term wins The result? A fragile, inefficient IT landscape that increases risk and makes transformation exponentially harder. The fix: ✅ Treat technical debt like financial debt → Proactively measure, manage, and reduce it. ✅ Invest in enterprise architecture → A strategic roadmap reduces redundant systems and optimizes total cost of ownership (TCO). ✅ Align IT and business strategy → Every IT dollar should drive measurable business outcomes. Real-world impact: At one of the global manufacturing companies I worked with, we faced overwhelming technical debt—multiple ERP systems, siloed applications, and legacy infrastructure slowing down operations. By implementing an enterprise-wide modernization strategy, we: ✔ Cut IT costs by 34% ✔ Eliminated redundant applications ✔ Freed up resources for true innovation Because technical debt isn’t just an IT challenge—it’s a business priority. The question isn’t whether you have technical debt—it’s whether you’re actively managing it. The sooner you address it, the less it will cost you. P.S. What’s the biggest challenge in addressing technical debt—cost, leadership buy-in, or execution? Drop your thoughts in the comments. And if you need help tackling it, let’s connect.