New research from STX Next, a prominent IT services and consulting company, has found that 91% of CTOs see technical debt as their biggest challenge heading into 2024. This underlines how many businesses face significant long-term issues that could be costly to rectify down the line, unless steps are taken to address capacity problems sooner rather than later.
The survey found that the second most prominent challenge highlighted by 68% of CTOs is capacity, suggesting that technical leaders are still grappling with staffing and employee attrition. This highlights the competition across the sector for skilled professionals and the industry-wide shortage that is making projects more difficult to fulfil in good time.
The findings were taken from STX Next’s 2023 Global CTO Survey, which surveyed 500 global CTOs about the biggest challenges facing their organisation. Other key findings from the research included:
- Security is the third most prominent challenge at 62%, suggesting that many are still battling to tame the rise in ransomware and other cyberattacks.
- To add to CTOs’ existing woes when it comes to hiring, employee retention is also a significant headache, with 42% of respondents suggesting it was one of their foremost concerns.
- Another prominent constraint to performance is lack of budget, according to 52% of CTOs.
- Overcommitment is another key challenge for CTOs when it comes to delivery. A fifth (22%) said that overcommitment causes problems, followed by technical debt at 14% and communication failures at 12%.
Ronald Binkofski, CEO at STX Next, said: “Overwhelmingly, technical debt and refactoring are the most pressing concerns for CTOs, perhaps brought on by the skills shortage leading to sub-optimal solutions being implemented to save time and money. Although driven by necessity in many cases, these short-term fixes will no doubt place strain on businesses as they require more work in the long run.”
