Perhaps in the current climate of financial meltdown, more talk of debt is not what you want to hear, however, it is probably more relevant now, as businesses need help saving money and planning for the longer term.

I have spent many hours over the years trying to convince clients, both business and some technical staff, that there is a cost, sometimes significant, in not fixing or addressing problems as they occur, rather than delaying for some time. This applies to fixing bugs or hacking together a quick fix or application.

The excellent article “Managing Technical Debt” by Steve McConnell, supports the above, and expresses the problems in the form of dollars, that should be of specific interest to those arguing the business case for delaying fixing issues.

The paper can be found below - free registration is required, but worth it so you can read many of the other white papers too.

http://www.construx.com/Page.aspx?hid=2801

Miles