Dealing with technical debt is inevitable. However, certain KPIs can help project teams mitigate the problem and prevent problems later. Companies generally try to limit technical debt. Accumulating this data may sometimes seem necessary, but project teams should avoid it if possible.
For example, consider the difference between deciding to add technical debt to meet a customer’s go-live date and accumulating technical debt because the project team didn’t follow the right processes, create the right documentation, or don’t conduct sufficient testing . Adding technical debt is necessary in the first scenario, while it is avoidable in the second scenario.
To minimize technical debt, project stakeholders should set specific KPIs that signal whether too much technical debt is accumulating so that the team can take corrective action.
Here are some of the KPIs that project stakeholders and other IT leaders can use to keep track of technical debt, as well as some software tools that can help.
Contents
8 KPIs to evaluate technical debt
Identifying potential technical debt in an IT project is critical so that stakeholders can take action when necessary. Below is a list of potential KPIs that can help project managers reduce technical debt.
1. Errors per line of code
The Defects per Line of Code KPI compares the number of defects identified during testing with the number of lines of code written. The reason for the code change affects the ratio. For example, developing a completely new feature will have a relatively different impact than improving an existing feature.
2. Technical debt ratio
The Technical Debt Ratio KPI measures the money spent fixing or debugging software problems compared to the money spent building the software.
3. Time commitment
Tracking how a developer spends their time gives you great insight into the application’s potential technical debt. The project team can measure time spent using timesheets with different codes for different actions, such as a bug fix code. By measuring the time spent, the project manager can also take into account the tasks that were delayed due to unplanned corrections.
4. Open defects
This KPI examines the number of open defects to closed defects. When attempting to improve this ratio, it is important to consider the severity of the problem. While closing multiple low-priority bugs can improve the open bug ratio, it increases the risk that customers will encounter serious problems.
5. Test coverage
The test coverage KPI evaluates the percentage of code that is tested using automated tests. With the shift to cloud computing and rapid software releases, automated testing is critical to reducing technical debt. Project managers can also use test coverage tools to measure the amount of code tested manually.
6. Issues reported by customers
This KPI tracks the number of issues customers encounter. The metric provides information about the number of missed errors during the development and testing process. These issues may require emergency solutions and can potentially impact a company’s reputation.
7. Code quality
This KPI measures the quality of the written code based on its complexity, cleanliness and language-specific elements. Project team members can assess code complexity using software development tools and code reviews.
8. Cycle time
This KPI measures the time it takes to fix errors. Some problems may be complex and require significant effort to resolve. Project stakeholders may want to establish an acceptable average amount of time to resolve an issue because this helps separate quick fixes from fixes that may take more time.
5 Tools to Measure Technical Debt
Depending on the needs of the project, organizations have different ways to measure technical debt. The author selected the vendors for the following list based on sources such as Gartner, G2, and vendor websites.
The products are listed in alphabetical order:
- Jira. Project teams can use this application to plan projects and track data such as the defects the team has identified and fixed. Jira can be integrated with various software development tools and simplify processes for software developers.
- SonarQube. This tool can analyze a developer’s code as it is written to identify potential problems during testing. The application generates reports that help project managers measure code quality over time.
- step size. Stepsize works with project management tools like Jira or Linear. It can track and prioritize technical debt. The cloud-based app also offers additional features that project managers can consider, such as custom user roles.
- Team scale. Teamscale can help software developers write code. The software provides code quality metrics and can identify problems with the code in real time, as well as highlight new code so testing can focus on the new material.
- VFunction. This application identifies architectural issues during the development process, allowing the team to address any issues early.
Eric St-Jean is an independent consultant with a particular focus on HR technology, project management, and Microsoft Excel training and automation. He writes about numerous areas of business and technology.