The weight of technical debt
The weight of technical debt
Years of patchwork tools and outdated systems have left teams stuck maintaining, not innovating.
Years of patchwork tools and outdated systems have left teams stuck maintaining, not innovating.
Years of working within the confines of restrictive CMSs have accumulated technical debt — the burden of outdated systems, inefficient integrations, and layered workarounds that pile up as organizations add new tools without modernizing their underlying infrastructure. This limits organizational agility and creates a bottleneck for even the most collaborative of teams.
The technical debt crisis manifests differently for marketers and developers:
- Marketers are constrained by systems that require developer intervention for basic site or content management.
- Developers spend their days maintaining fragile codebases instead of building the robust, scalable solutions that would actually empower their marketing counterparts.
Technical debt compounds over time, making websites not just harder to maintain, but actively resistant to the kind of collaborative workflows that modern web teams need. The result is an organization unable to fully execute on its own web strategy, compromising speed to market, innovation, and overall productivity.
Years of working within the confines of restrictive CMSs have accumulated technical debt — the burden of outdated systems, inefficient integrations, and layered workarounds that pile up as organizations add new tools without modernizing their underlying infrastructure. This limits organizational agility and creates a bottleneck for even the most collaborative of teams.
The technical debt crisis manifests differently for marketers and developers:
- Marketers are constrained by systems that require developer intervention for basic site or content management.
- Developers spend their days maintaining fragile codebases instead of building the robust, scalable solutions that would actually empower their marketing counterparts.
Technical debt compounds over time, making websites not just harder to maintain, but actively resistant to the kind of collaborative workflows that modern web teams need. The result is an organization unable to fully execute on its own web strategy, compromising speed to market, innovation, and overall productivity.
Rising complexity, falling confidence
Rising complexity, falling confidence
Organizations continue to invest in strategies and talent to meet growing customer expectations. However, the technical debt they’ve taken on continues to increase risk, slow down the pace of work, and impact their teams’ abilities to effectively manage the website.
Organizations continue to invest in strategies and talent to meet growing customer expectations. However, the technical debt they’ve taken on continues to increase risk, slow down the pace of work, and impact their teams’ abilities to effectively manage the website.
And websites have become significantly harder to manage: 92% of organizations say that requests for website updates are growing in size and complexity, and 95% of organizations report they are receiving more web project requests overall.
Companies have cobbled together point solutions, stitching tools together they hope work well enough — whether for the short or long term. But these fragmented tech stacks don’t reduce the burden on teams; if anything, they exacerbate it.
And websites have become significantly harder to manage: 92% of organizations say that requests for website updates are growing in size and complexity, and 95% of organizations report they are receiving more web project requests overall.
Companies have cobbled together point solutions, stitching tools together they hope work well enough — whether for the short or long term. But these fragmented tech stacks don’t reduce the burden on teams; if anything, they exacerbate it.
A burden shared across teams
A burden shared across teams
Engineering and marketing teams feel the weight of technical debt. Technical teams are especially concerned with the rising security risks that come with growing tech stacks, and 97% of technical leaders report technical debt is impacting their team's ability to effectively manage the website.
Engineering and marketing teams feel the weight of technical debt. Technical teams are especially concerned with the rising security risks that come with growing tech stacks, and 97% of technical leaders report technical debt is impacting their team's ability to effectively manage the website.
Complicates tool integration
Complicates tool integration
Increases security risks
Increases security risks
Confident
47%
Increases near-term costs
Increases near-term costs
Simultaneously, marketers are trapped in a cycle of handoffs without the ability to manage or update underlying content templates or build pages.
Simultaneously, marketers are trapped in a cycle of handoffs without the ability to manage or update underlying content templates or build pages.
Developer fatigue is real
Developer fatigue is real
Technical leaders report frustrations with platforms and processes. And when compounded, they aren't just minor inconveniences; they're systemic obstacles that erode team morale, delay launches, and prevent teams from building innovative websites that move the needle for business.
The result is a growing dissatisfaction with the status quo — with many leaders citing multiple issues.
Technical leaders report frustrations with platforms and processes. And when compounded, they aren't just minor inconveniences; they're systemic obstacles that erode team morale, delay launches, and prevent teams from building innovative websites that move the needle for business.
The result is a growing dissatisfaction with the status quo — with many leaders citing multiple issues.
62% of technical leaders blame platform issues, including:
62% of technical leaders blame platform issues, including:
- Rigid platform limitations
- Inability to customize code
- The lack of automation
- Rigid platform limitations
- Inability to customize code
- The lack of automation
45% of technical leaders blame inefficient processes, including:
45% of technical leaders blame inefficient processes, including:
- Slow or complicated cross-functional workflows
- Poor documentation or training
- Slow or complicated cross-functional workflows
- Poor documentation or training
42% of technical leaders blame poor collaboration or siloed information, including:
42% of technical leaders blame poor collaboration or siloed information, including:
- Too many requests from marketing
- Siloed teams and/or communication issues
- Too many requests from marketing
- Siloed teams and/or communication issues
It’s no surprise then that technical leaders are unhappy with the current state of their websites today.
It’s no surprise then that technical leaders are unhappy with the current state of their websites today.
Only one-third (34%) report they are completely satisfied with their website and believe it does not need any improvements.
Only one-third (34%) report they are completely satisfied with their website and believe it does not need any improvements.
For those using custom-built sites, that number drops to 29%.
For those using custom-built sites, that number drops to 29%.