Software development
Reducing technical debt across a growing software landscape
Customer case
March 24, 2023
4 min read
Customer
Transmission system operator (TSO)
OT area
Software development
Location
Europe
Technical debt shouldn’t slow down digital transformation. See how a European transmission system operator created a common software delivery model that reduced complexity, improved software quality, and gave development teams more time to focus on the applications that support grid operations.
As the TSO’s software portfolio expanded, so did the complexity behind it. Different teams adopted different development tools, deployment methods, and ways of working, making it increasingly difficult to maintain software quality and scale delivery consistently.
Over time, development teams spent more effort maintaining development environments, supporting different toolchains, and onboarding new developers than building new capabilities. As engineering resources shifted toward managing technical debt, less capacity remained available for the digital initiatives that support reliable and resilient grid operations.
Keeping software delivery on track
Before the organization could accelerate software delivery, it needed a more consistent development approach that reduced technical debt without slowing innovation.
Technical debt kept growing
Technical debt had accumulated across applications, increasing maintenance effort and making it harder for development teams to deliver new functionality efficiently.
Too many ways of building and deploying software
Different development and deployment practices across teams created inconsistencies, reduced software quality, and made collaboration more difficult as the software landscape expanded.
Development tools weren't ready to scale
Limited CI/CD, testing, and governance capabilities meant more manual work, slower onboarding for new developers, and increasing operational overhead as new applications and teams were introduced.
Our approach
Rather than solving problems one project at a time, our software engineering consultants worked with the TSO to simplify the software landscape. We assessed the existing development environments, identified where technical debt and inconsistencies were slowing delivery, and developed a software factory framework that standardized development practices across teams.
Together, we introduced common development standards, CI/CD pipelines, testing frameworks, automation, and Internal Developer Platform capabilities that reduced manual effort and simplified onboarding. By creating a shared development model, we helped teams spend less time maintaining tooling and more time delivering software.
The result was a more scalable software delivery approach that reduced complexity without limiting the flexibility needed to support future applications and technologies.
Building a stronger foundation for software delivery
The software factory reduced technical debt, simplified software delivery, and freed up engineering capacity.
More time spent building software
Standardized tools, automation, and shared development practices reduced the effort required to maintain environments and onboard new developers.
Consistent software delivery across teams
Common standards improved software quality and made it easier for development teams to collaborate and deliver applications more consistently.
Ready to support future growth
A scalable software delivery model made it easier to introduce new applications and technologies without increasing operational complexity.
Looking to reduce technical debt?
Technical debt doesn’t have to limit software delivery. Our software engineering consultants help utilities build standardized development environments that improve software quality, simplify operations, and support long-term digital transformation.
