How to Clean Up Tech Debt Before It Costs You More

Key Takeaways

• Tech debt builds quietly: Small shortcuts today create bigger problems tomorrow.
• Audits reveal hidden issues: Regular reviews help spot outdated tools and risky workarounds.
• Training closes the gap: Upskilling your team helps fix and prevent future debt.
• Prioritize high-impact fixes: Focus on security risks and tools that slow your team's productivity.
• Make prevention a habit: Clear documentation and ownership help keep systems clean.

What Is Tech Debt and How It Slows You Down

The IT team knew something was off when weekly reports started taking twice as long to generate. At first, they blamed a network hiccup or a few outdated machines. However, a closer look revealed deeper issues: an outdated server running unsupported software, three redundant reporting tools performing the same function, and a legacy app that was no longer in use.

By the time leadership stepped in, the company was losing hours—and dollars—to keep things running smoothly.

This kind of inefficiency is a clear sign of tech debt—and it’s more common than most leaders realize.

Tech debt builds when businesses make short-term decisions that seem sensible at the moment—like skipping an update to meet a deadline or rushing to the cloud without proper testing. These choices add up. Over time, they create systems that are more difficult to maintain, slower to adapt, and more expensive to operate.

The good news? You can fix it—but it takes more than a one-time cleanup. You need to know where to look, what to prioritize, and how to build habits that prevent tech debt from returning.

If you’re ready to stop patching and start improving, read on.

What Causes Tech Debt—and How to Catch It Early

Tech debt doesn't always start with a bad decision. Sometimes, it comes from fast growth, tight budgets, or shifting business needs. Even good intentions can lead to problems when long-term impacts aren’t considered.

Some of the most common causes include:

• Delaying system upgrades because they seem too expensive or time-consuming
• Taking shortcuts to meet launch deadlines or fix bugs quickly
• Rushing to the cloud without a clear plan leads to mismatched settings or duplicate tools
• Skipping documentation makes it hard for new team members to understand older systems
• Poor communication between IT and leadership leads to mismatched priorities

Each of these may seem minor on their own. But together, they create a backlog of issues that only get harder—and more expensive—to fix over time.

Recognizing these root causes early helps you avoid bigger problems down the road. Once you identify the root causes, it's time to determine what they're truly costing you.

The Real Cost of Tech Debt

Tech debt doesn’t just slow down IT—it affects the entire organization. From ballooning maintenance costs to growing security risks, the longer it’s ignored, the more it drains time, money, and momentum.

Here's why it’s so costly to ignore:

• Maintenance eats your budget: Legacy systems need constant support.
• Work slows down: Manual steps and broken processes frustrate teams.
• Security risks increase: Outdated tools and fragile integrations are vulnerable to exploitation.
• Innovation stalls: You’re stuck fixing the past while competitors move forward.
• IT morale drops: Your top talent doesn’t want to babysit old systems forever.

Technical debt consumes up to 40% of a business’s entire budget on average.

That's why managing tech debt isn't just about cost control—it's about staying competitive and maintaining a competitive edge.

Case in point: A mid-sized retail company discovered that it was using five overlapping inventory tools across its departments. After consolidating systems and retiring outdated platforms, they reduced IT support tickets by 40%. They also reduced their daily reporting time by two hours.

But before you can clean things up, you need to know where to look.

How to Identify and Fix the Worst Tech Debt

To reduce tech debt, you first need to uncover it. That means running a basic audit of your systems and tools to identify what’s outdated, inefficient, or no longer delivers value. The goal isn’t to overhaul everything—just to find out where to start.

Manageable and simple steps to start your audit include:

• List systems at end-of-life: If a vendor no longer supports it, it's a liability
• Check integrations: Identify fragile workarounds or scripts that were meant to be temporary
• Talk to users: Ask what’s frustrating or slow—user complaints often point to hidden debt
• Review support tickets: Repeated issues usually trace back to deeper system problems
• Look for tool overlap: If different teams use separate tools for the same job, there’s waste

This kind of audit doesn't have to be overwhelming. Start with one department or one system. Look for patterns. Over time, you’ll better understand what's slowing down your systems.

Once you identify the problems, you can make more informed decisions about what to tackle first. For teams using Agile or quarterly planning cycles, consider logging these issues in your backlog or tech debt register so they can be reviewed regularly alongside new feature work.

How to Prioritize Tech Debt Fixes

Not all tech debt is equal. Some issues are annoying—but others pose a serious risk to your business or your customers. That's why prioritization matters. Fix the most significant risks first, then work your way toward improvements that increase speed, efficiency, and team morale.

Start by focusing on:

• Security and compliance risks: Fix anything that could expose data or violate regulations
• Customer-impacting tools: Update anything that causes frustration for end users
• Time-draining tools: Replace systems that repeatedly waste your team’s time
• Low-value, high-cost tech: If it’s expensive but delivers little benefit, it's a drain
• Growth blockers: Prioritize improvements that unlock speed, scale, or collaboration

More than 75% of technology professionals are concerned about security vulnerabilities in legacy systems.

However, a tech cleanup isn’t about tearing everything down at once. It’s about high-impact improvements that drive progress without draining your team’s time and energy.

Quick win: A comprehensive tech debt cleanup can seem overwhelming. So start small.

• Pick one outdated tool to retire this quarter.
• Document what it does, who uses it, and what should replace it.
• Set a clear timeline for removal and replacement.
• Communicate the plan to everyone affected.
• Track the results—like time saved or support tickets reduced.

Even a small win—such as saving time or reducing tickets—can give your team the momentum to keep moving forward.

Retiring old tools is a strong first step. But once you know what to fix, the real challenge is making those fixes stick—and that starts with training the team to do it right.

How IT Training Helps Fix and Prevent Tech Debt

Once you've identified your most significant tech debt issues, the next step is giving your team the skills to fix them—and avoid repeating the same mistakes. That's where training comes in. When teams know how to work with modern systems, they can make smarter decisions, faster fixes, and build systems that last.

Preventing tech debt starts with upskilling teams in the areas that matter most:

• Dev teams write cleaner, more maintainable code using modern frameworks
• Cloud specialists avoid over- or under-provisioning and build scalable systems
• DevOps training enables automation, cutting down on manual errors
• Security training helps teams spot vulnerabilities before they become liabilities
• Cross-functional training aligns teams and prevents mismatched tooling

Training gives your team the tools to fix today's problems—but that's only half the equation. To prevent tech debt from creeping back in, you'll also need to establish strong habits, foster shared accountability, and implement clear processes that support long-term discipline.

How to Prevent Tech Debt from Coming Back

Cleaning up tech debt is only half the battle. If you want long-term success, you need to prevent it from creeping back in.

Want to prevent tech debt from returning? Try these habits:

• Document as you go: Future-proof your projects with clear records
• Schedule regular reviews: Monthly or quarterly check-ins keep issues from piling up
• Balance speed with stability: Don’t trade sustainability for short-term delivery
• Share goals between teams: Collaboration between IT and business improves decision-making
• Assign owners: Every system needs someone accountable for upkeep
• Track debt visibly: Use a shared backlog or dashboard to keep it top of mind

These habits don’t just prevent tech debt—they make your organization stronger, more adaptable, and set up for long-term growth.

Ready to Tackle Tech Debt? Start Small, Think Long Term

Tech debt can pile up fast—but you don’t have to tackle it all at once.

Start with one system. One fix. One habit. That’s all it takes to build momentum. Over time, those small steps free up budgets, speed up delivery, and build a stronger, happier team.

Don’t wait for tech debt to slow you down.

Contact New Horizons. Whether you're tackling your first audit or modernizing your entire tech stack, we’ll help your team gain the skills they need to clean up tech debt—and stay ahead of it.