Process Debt: a First Exploration

Paper in proceeding, 2020

Process Debt, like Technical Debt, can be the source of short-term benefits but often is harmful in the long term for a software organization. However, we do not know much about Process Debt from current literature. We conducted an exploratory study of Process Debt in four international organizations by interviewing 16 practitioners. The findings show that Process Debt can be a harmful phenomenon that needs attention and new practices, as it is different from Technical Debt. We provide an initial framework, composed by a definition and a conceptual model for Process Debt, showing types, causes, consequences, and debt accumulation patterns.