Technical Debt in Hardware Systems and Elements

Rosser, Larri Ann; Ouzzif, Zakaria

doi:10.1109/aero50100.2021.9438332

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Five of the 18 papers focused on technical debt in traditional systems engineering. Rosser and Norton 26 and Rosser and Ouzzif 27 provide a system engineering view of technical debt. In both papers, the researchers map technical debt types from the software engineering field to the systems engineering field and identify new types of system‐engineering‐centric technical debt, such as depreciation debt.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technical debt in systems engineering—A systematic literature review

Kleinwaks

Batchelor

Bradley

2023

Systems Engineering

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The metaphor of “technical debt” is used in software engineering to describe technical solutions that may be pragmatic in the near‐term but may have a negative long‐term impact. Similar decisions and similar dynamics are present in the field of systems engineering. This work investigates the current body of knowledge to identify if, and how, the technical debt metaphor is used within the systems engineering field and which systems engineering lifecycle stages are most susceptible to technical debt. A systematic literature review was conducted on 354 papers in February 2022, of which 18 were deemed relevant for inclusion in the study. The results of the systematic literature review show that the technical debt metaphor is not prevalent within systems engineering research and that existing research is limited to specific fields and theoretical discussions. This paper concludes with recommendations for future work to establish a research agenda on the identification and management of technical debt within systems engineering.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Technical debt in systems engineering—A systematic literature review

Kleinwaks

Batchelor

Bradley

2023

Systems Engineering

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“…"Expedient engineering decisions in requirements, architecture, design, documentation, integration and test are made to gain short term advantage, with similar negative effects on productivity and quality as have been shown in software" [47]. This definition is cumbersome and does not detail the negative effects, instead relying on a foreknowledge of the application of TD within software engineering.…”

Section: Technical Debt Definitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ontology for Technical Debt in Systems Engineering

Kleinwaks,

Batchelor,

Bradley

2023

IEEE Open J. Syst. Eng.

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The technical debt metaphor is used to describe the long-term consequences of engineering decisions made to achieve a short-term benefit. The metaphor originated in the field of software engineering and has begun to migrate to other fields, including systems engineering. The usage of the metaphor, its associated terminology, and basic definitions vary both within the software field and within the greater engineering community. The lack of consistent definitions inhibits the ability of system developers to understand and control technical debt within their system developments. This paper presents an ontology for technical debt, focusing on the field of systems engineering. By providing a set of concise and consolidated definitions, this ontology enables precise discussion of technical debt and associated techniques for mitigating its impact within systems engineering.

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“…Since 2008, published research on technical debt in the field of software engineering has steadily increased (Besker, Martini & Bosch 2017). Technical debt has been classified into multiple types (Rosser & Ouzzif 2021), different causes have been identified (Martini, Bosch & Chaudron 2014, McConnell 2008, and multiple measurement techniques have been suggested (Brown, et al 2010, Nord, et al 2012, Seaman & Guo 2011, Abad & Ruhe 2015. This research, however, has been primarily constrained to the field of software engineering (Kleinwaks, Batchelor & Bradley 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Empirical Survey on the Prevalence of Technical Debt in Systems Engineering

Kleinwaks,

Batchelor,

Bradley

2023

INCOSE International Symp

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The technical debt metaphor is used within software engineering to describe technical concessions that produce a short‐term benefit but result in long‐term consequences. Systems engineering is subject to these concessions, yet there is a limited amount of research associating technical debt with systems engineering. This paper provides the results of an empirical survey investigating the prevalence of technical debt in systems engineering, including the occurrence of technical debt, the use of the metaphor, and the distribution of technical debt within the systems engineering lifecycle. The results of the survey show that while technical debt is common in systems engineering and occurs throughout the lifecycle, the metaphor and terminology of technical debt is not consistently applied. These results emphasize the need to enrich the usage of the technical debt metaphor within systems engineering to enable the management of technical debt and to reduce the risk of technical bankruptcy.

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Technical Debt in Hardware Systems and Elements

Cited by 3 publications

References 2 publications

Technical debt in systems engineering—A systematic literature review

Technical debt in systems engineering—A systematic literature review

Ontology for Technical Debt in Systems Engineering

An Empirical Survey on the Prevalence of Technical Debt in Systems Engineering

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