The Agile Executive

In a little over a month Jim Highsmith and I will deliver our joint seminar on technical debt in the Cutter Summit. Here are eight characteristics of the technical debt metric that make it clear why you should spend 3.5 precious hours on the topic:

1. The technical debt metric shifts the emphasis in software development from proficiency in the software process to the output of the process.
2. It changes the playing fields from qualitative assessment to quantitative measurement of the quality of the software.
3. It is an effective antidote to the relentless function/feature pressure.
4. It can be used with any software method, not “just” Agile.
5. It is applicable to any amount of code.
6. It can be applied at any point in time in the software life-cycle.
7. These six characteristics of the technical debt metric enable effective governance of the software process.
8. The above  characteristics of the technical debt metric enable effective governance of the software product portfolio.

The eight characteristics in the aggregate amount to technical debt metric as a ‘universal source of truth.’ It is a meaningful metric at any level of your organization and for any department in it. Moreover, it is applicable to any business process that is not yet taking software quality into account.

Jim and I look forward to meeting you at the summit and interacting with you in the technical debt seminar!