The Perception and Management of Technical Debt in Software Startups

Abstract

The software startups are a particular scenario where Technical Debt (TD) may occur in an intentional or unintentional way. However, the current knowledge about the perception and management of TD are mainly related to mature software organizations. This chapter contextualizes the startups’ characteristics that can lead to TD incurrence, the concepts related to TD and its management, and presents the results of a survey with Uruguayan software startups. The survey’s primary goal was to understand how software startups perceive and manage TD in their projects. The results refer to the level of understanding of the startup’s practitioners concerning TD concept, the adopted Technical Debt Management (TDM) activities, and the strategies and technologies used in their projects to support such activities. The findings show that startups seem to invest time and effort in TDM activities being TD prevention, one of the most conducted activities. Besides that, it was observed that the participant’s experience and the size of the organization seem to be also related to the perception and management of TD.