Framework and Techniques for Managing Technical Debt in Software Development Lifecycle

Abstract

Purpose: Technical Debt and the subsequent problems are discussed often in industry and scientific journals. In this paper, we introduce a framework for managing technical Debt. The solution consists of methods to manage and repay technical debt. The goal of the framework is to provide a better overview of the Technical Debt items for the IT Development team and SMEs. Technical Debt calculation is the cost of fixing structural quality issues in an application that, if left unfixed, puts the business at critical risk. Technical Debt typically includes issues that are highly likely to cause severe business disruption; and may not include all problems, just the most critically serious ones. Technical Debt describe problems that arise during development when workarounds are made due to tight project deadlines or technical improvements are neglected over a longer time. In a technical metaphor to financial debt, the workaround is interpreted as the debt and the resulting problems as interest rates. Additionally, the paper also categorizes Technical Debt and provides a view on the metrics and tools.