Glossary · letter D
Digital Debt
Digital DebtThe hidden cost of outdated infrastructure
Definition
The accumulating cost of maintaining outdated systems, unrefactored code and temporary workarounds that were never removed. Digital debt means every scaling attempt is more expensive and slower than at a company with modern infrastructure, and the risk of errors grows proportionally with the age of the systems.
Business application
A company with digital debt typically has 40–60% of its IT budget consumed by maintenance and workarounds. At a company without digital debt the proportions are reversed. The first step is quantifying the debt — exactly how much it costs today and how much it will cost in a year.