Meaning
Strategic actions address the long term costs of choosing an easy but limited solution over a better approach that takes longer to implement. Technical debt mitigation involves identifying where short term fixes in software or hardware have created a burden for future operations. These shortcuts eventually slow down production and increase maintenance costs.
The process does not include the standard depreciation of physical assets over time.
Legacy Refactoring
Replacing outdated code or machinery with modern equivalents is a standard method for reducing this burden. Using technical debt mitigation, a company schedules regular maintenance windows to clean up old systems before they fail. This prevents a sudden collapse of the infrastructure.
Software engineers spend time rewriting fragile components to improve the overall stability and security of the factory control network.
Capability Restoration
Removing the obstacles created by poor past decisions allows the organization to adopt new technologies more easily. Effective technical debt mitigation requires a balance between fixing old problems and building new features. It is a continuous process rather than a one time project.
Long Term Velocity
Improving the foundation of the system eventually leads to faster development and higher output. Technical debt mitigation is an investment in the future agility of the business.