Technical talent exodus: the dangers of technical debt

Yusuf
04 Apr, 2023 - 0 Comment(s)

In recent times, there has been a surge in Nigerian companies losing their key technical talents and engineers to foreign companies. This trend, popularly known as "Japa," has become a significant challenge for Nigerian businesses, particularly in the technology industry. However, the ramifications of this talent exodus extend beyond the mere loss of personnel; it could lead to the accumulation of technical debt, which is detrimental to the growth and sustainability of businesses. 

Technical debt refers to the cost of future repairs and maintenance resulting from taking shortcuts during the software development process. It is like financial debt, where you take a loan now and payback with interest later. In software development, technical debt accumulates when developers choose to take the easy route instead of the best approach, resulting in the creation of sub-optimal code. The accumulation of technical debt could result in increased costs, longer development cycles, and a more challenging maintenance process. 

The loss of technical expertise can lead to technical debt. When businesses lose their key technical talents and engineers, they often face difficulty in maintaining their existing software systems. This challenge could arise because the new developers are not familiar with the system, leading them to take shortcuts in the development process, resulting in technical debt. Furthermore, without the technical know-how to maintain and improve the software systems, the business could struggle to meet the evolving needs of its customers. 

To manage technical debt, companies must identify the critical areas that need remediation and prioritize them. They also need to implement processes to prevent new debt from occurring. One effective way to manage technical debt is to move applications to the cloud, which can make it easier to implement modern software engineering practices. This is where Layer3Cloud comes in. 

Layer3Cloud is a cloud service provider that helps businesses reduce technical debt by modernizing their applications and infrastructure for the cloud. This service can analyze a company's current architecture and identify areas that need updating to reduce technical debt. Then, using the 10 Rs framework, Layer3Cloud can suggest the best options for cloud migration: rehost, automated replatform, replatform with code changes, rethink, refactor, relicense, rebuild, repurchase, retain or retire. 

After identifying the best cloud architecture for a company's applications, Layer3Cloud can develop a modernization plan that includes information on the total cost of ownership and return on investment. Although a move to the cloud can save costs, the primary benefit is reducing innovation friction so that companies can innovate faster and grow. 

Moving applications to the cloud with Layer3Cloud can also enable companies to take advantage of modern software engineering practices such as automation, DevOps, and continuous delivery. Additionally, Layer3Cloud can help companies adopt a new API strategy to break open silos and make data available to every part of the organization. 

In conclusion, the Japa trend highlights the need for Nigerian businesses to take proactive measures to avoid technical debt. The accumulation of technical debt could result in significant costs, long development cycles, and a more challenging maintenance process. Therefore, partnering with a reliable technology company like Layer3cloud could help businesses remediate this challenge and enable them to focus on their core business operations.