Debt Management for IT Architects

Name: Debt Management for IT Architects
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Technology Debt, Technical Debt: Quantify debt with the Debt Dispensation Model, build a debt register and govern

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Created byStuart Dee

Last updated 8/2026

English

What you'll learn

Identify and classify technology debt across eight architecture dimensions and distinguish deliberate, inadvertent and passive debt types.
Quantify technology debt using the Debt Dispensation Model formula T equals D plus C plus O, including compound interest.
Build and maintain a technology debt register as a living governance artefact and present it in board-ready escalation language.
Apply four remediation strategies, enforce the agreed remediation capacity rule and design a governance policy to control debt accumulation.
Analyse a real financial services case study portfolio totalling over eleven million pounds and apply the full DDM lifecycle end to end.

Course content

9 sections • 9 lectures • 2h 42m total length

Overview6:16
Describe the course structure, identify the seven modules and their scope, and understand how this course connects technology debt management to architecture governance practice.
Character count: 174 — within limit, UK English, no dashes.
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Debt Accumulation24:43
This module maps how technology debt accumulates across an organisation and across the architecture lifecycle. You will learn the eight primary dimensions of debt (architecture, integration, security, infrastructure and lifecycle, data, compliance and regulatory, process and skills), how debt builds at each stage from strategy through to operate, and why unmanaged debt compounds until it crosses the 80% delivery capacity crisis point. The module introduces the six red flags that signal debt is out of control, the two axis view of remediation cost versus materialisation consequence used to set priority tiers, and the OAT Principles (Ownership, Accountability, Transparency) that contain accumulation from the point of creation. A contrasting case (Organisation A versus Organisation B) shows the real cost of governance discipline versus its absence, before previewing the Debt Dispensation Model covered fully in Module 3.
Module 2 - Assessment

Quantifying Techology Debt25:09
This module introduces the Debt Dispensation Model, the course's core framework for turning technology debt into an auditable financial figure. You will learn the formula T = D + C + O, apply complexity multipliers to determine the Cost of Doing it Properly, and calculate opportunity cost using the compound interest formula, including People and Process Debt. A worked example (Project 6, £4.219M) and a full portfolio view (14 dispensations, £11,147,426) show the model applied to real data. The module closes by benchmarking the DDM against the McConnell, SEI and McKinsey frameworks and translating quantified figures into board ready language.
Module 3 - Assessment

Requirements

A working understanding of IT architecture concepts and the role of the architect within an organisation.
Familiarity with basic project and delivery lifecycle concepts such as sprints, releases and architectural decision making.
No specialist financial or accounting knowledge is required. All monetary concepts are introduced and explained within the course.
No prior knowledge of technology debt frameworks is assumed. The course builds from first principles.
Completion of Risk Management for IT Architects (the companion course) is beneficial but not required.

Description

Technology debt and its associated debt such as architechture debt and technical debt, is the single largest hidden liability on any IT balance sheet. Unmanaged, it slows delivery, amplifies risk and blocks strategic change. This course gives IT architects and technology leaders a structured, quantified approach to identifying, measuring and governing it.

Built on the Debt Dispensation Model (T = D + C + O), the course takes you from first principles through to board-level governance. You will learn to identify debt across eight primary architecture dimensions, quantify every item in precise financial terms, and build a technology debt register that meets board reporting standards and holds up to executive scrutiny.

The course covers four proven remediation strategies, the agreed remediation capacity rule, and a complete governance policy framework including the formal dispensation process and the OAT Principles: Ownership, Accountability and Transparency. You will also learn how to manage specialist debt dimensions including AI model debt, cloud debt and shadow IT debt using the same consistent framework.

Module 7 applies every tool and framework to a fully worked financial services case study with a 14-item dispensation portfolio totalling millions in quantified liability, giving you a practical template you can adapt and apply immediately in your own organisation.

By the end of the course you will be able to quantify technology debt in financial terms, prioritise remediation using defined escalation thresholds, present a board-ready business case and design a governance policy that prevents uncontrolled debt accumulation over time.

Suitable for IT architects, enterprise architects, solution architects, architecture managers, senior developers moving into governance roles and CTO office staff.

Who this course is for:

IT architects at any level who are responsible for identifying, owning or governing technology debt within their organisation.
Enterprise, solution and domain architects who need to translate engineering compromises into financial language for governance forums and boards
Architecture managers and heads of architecture who want a structured, repeatable framework for debt governance across a portfolio.
Senior developers and technical leads who are moving into architecture roles and need to understand the governance and financial dimensions of deferred technical decisions.
IT governance professionals and CTO office staff who work alongside architects and need to understand how technology debt is quantified and escalated.
Professionals who have completed the companion course Risk Management for IT Architects and want to complete their architecture governance toolkit.

Debt Management for IT Architects

What you'll learn

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Course content

Overview - Introduction to Technology Debt1 lecture • 6min

Module 1 - Introduction to Technology Debt1 lecture • 16min

Module 2 - Debt Accumulation1 lecture • 25min

Module 3 - Quantifying Technology Debt1 lecture • 25min

Module 4 - The Debt Register1 lecture • 25min

Module 5 - Remediation Strategies1 lecture • 21min

Module 6 - Governance and Specialist Debt1 lecture • 22min

Module 7 - Financial Services Case Study1 lecture • 22min

Course Resources1 lecture • 1min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: