research-article

Exploration of technical debt in start-ups

Authors:

Michael Unterkalmsteiner,

Panagiota Chatzipetrou,

Rafael Prikladnicki,

Nirnaya Tripathi,

Leandro Bento PompermaierAuthors Info & Claims

ICSE-SEIP '18: Proceedings of the 40th International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering in Practice

Pages 75 - 84

https://doi.org/10.1145/3183519.3183539

Published: 27 May 2018 Publication History

Abstract

Context: Software start-ups are young companies aiming to build and market software-intensive products fast with little resources. Aiming to accelerate time-to-market, start-ups often opt for ad-hoc engineering practices, make shortcuts in product engineering, and accumulate technical debt.

Objective: In this paper we explore to what extent precedents, dimensions and outcomes associated with technical debt are prevalent in start-ups.

Method: We apply a case survey method to identify aspects of technical debt and contextual information characterizing the engineering context in start-ups.

Results: By analyzing responses from 86 start-up cases we found that start-ups accumulate most technical debt in the testing dimension, despite attempts to automate testing. Furthermore, we found that start-up team size and experience is a leading precedent for accumulating technical debt: larger teams face more challenges in keeping the debt under control.

Conclusions: This study highlights the necessity to monitor levels of technical debt and to preemptively introduce practices to keep the debt under control. Adding more people to an already difficult to maintain product could amplify other precedents, such as resource shortages, communication issues and negatively affect decisions pertaining to the use of good engineering practices.

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Cited By

Santos AKuspil JRando DSantos DLeal GBalancieri ROliveirajr E(2023)Technical Debt in Brazilian Software Startups: Perceptions of Professionals in ParanáProceedings of the XXII Brazilian Symposium on Software Quality10.1145/3629479.3629482(120-127)Online publication date: 7-Nov-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3629479.3629482
Lakha BBhetwal KEisty N(2023)Analysis of Software Engineering Practices in General Software and Machine Learning Startups2023 IEEE/ACIS 21st International Conference on Software Engineering Research, Management and Applications (SERA)10.1109/SERA57763.2023.10197836(39-46)Online publication date: 23-May-2023
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Klotins EUnterkalmsteiner MChatzipetrou PGorschek TPrikladnicki RTripathi NPompermaier L(2021)A Progression Model of Software Engineering Goals, Challenges, and Practices in Start-UpsIEEE Transactions on Software Engineering10.1109/TSE.2019.290021347:3(498-521)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2021
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cover image ACM Conferences

ICSE-SEIP '18: Proceedings of the 40th International Conference on Software Engineering: Software Engineering in Practice

May 2018

336 pages

ISBN:9781450356596

DOI:10.1145/3183519

Conference Chairs:
Frances Paulisch
Siemens Healthineers, Germany
,
Jan Bosch
Chalmers University of Technology

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Published: 27 May 2018

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May 27 - June 3, 2018

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Cited By

Santos AKuspil JRando DSantos DLeal GBalancieri ROliveirajr E(2023)Technical Debt in Brazilian Software Startups: Perceptions of Professionals in ParanáProceedings of the XXII Brazilian Symposium on Software Quality10.1145/3629479.3629482(120-127)Online publication date: 7-Nov-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3629479.3629482
Lakha BBhetwal KEisty N(2023)Analysis of Software Engineering Practices in General Software and Machine Learning Startups2023 IEEE/ACIS 21st International Conference on Software Engineering Research, Management and Applications (SERA)10.1109/SERA57763.2023.10197836(39-46)Online publication date: 23-May-2023
https://doi.org/10.1109/SERA57763.2023.10197836
Klotins EUnterkalmsteiner MChatzipetrou PGorschek TPrikladnicki RTripathi NPompermaier L(2021)A Progression Model of Software Engineering Goals, Challenges, and Practices in Start-UpsIEEE Transactions on Software Engineering10.1109/TSE.2019.290021347:3(498-521)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2021
https://doi.org/10.1109/TSE.2019.2900213
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Melegati JWang X(2020)Case Survey Studies in Software Engineering ResearchProceedings of the 14th ACM / IEEE International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement (ESEM)10.1145/3382494.3410683(1-12)Online publication date: 5-Oct-2020
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Korper APatrício LHolmlid SWitell L(2020)Service design as an innovation approach in technology startups: a longitudinal multiple case studyCreativity and Innovation Management10.1111/caim.1238329:2(303-323)Online publication date: 16-May-2020
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Apa CJeronimo HNascimento LVallespir DTravassos G(2020)The Perception and Management of Technical Debt in Software StartupsFundamentals of Software Startups10.1007/978-3-030-35983-6_4(61-78)Online publication date: 29-Feb-2020
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