Becoming a Technical Debt Slayer
Hey THWACK Community!
Ever felt like your IT systems are drowning in technical debt? You're not alone. The SolarWinds Blog recently published a piece by Technical Evangelist Kevin Kline on how to tackle this common issue.
The Importance of Maintenance
In the world of IT, innovation is exciting, but maintenance is crucial. Maintenance is more than just an activity. It is a mindset and philosophy as well. If upper management is not committed to adequate maintenance, you’re guaranteed to experience a steady and burdensome accumulation of technical debt.
Technical debt can sneak up on you, causing long-term costs and risks. What are some valuable tips to keep your systems running smoothly?
- Code Reviews and CI/CD: Regular code reviews and continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) can catch issues early and ensure your codebase stays clean and efficient. Make sure that you include database schemas and procedural code, like stored procedures, are also included in your coding processes.
- Systems Thinking: Embrace a holistic view of your IT infrastructure. Understanding how different components interact can help you identify and address potential issues before they become major problems.
- Documentation: Proper documentation is essential for understanding and maintaining your systems. Commenting on code, the creation of architectural diagrams, documenting API endpoints, and outlining the overall system design.
- Monitoring: Implementing comprehensive monitoring solutions that provide real-time visibility into resource consumption, performance and potential bottlenecks.
Want to dig a little deeper?
The SolarWinds Blog piece, "In Praise of Maintenance: Strategies to Conquer Technical Debt," offers some great insights to keep your systems running smoothly and help keep your team out of technical debt.
