# Technical Debt in Data-Intensive Software Systems

## TL;DR

This paper presents a conceptual model for understanding how technical debt arises and spreads in data-intensive software systems, emphasizing database schema smells as a key example.

## Contribution

It introduces a new model that segments DISS into three parts to analyze technical debt emergence and proliferation.

## Key findings

- Database schema smells can serve as technical debt items.
- The model helps identify where technical debt can develop in DISS.
- Illustrative examples demonstrate the proliferation of schema smells.

## Abstract

The ever-increasing amount, variety as well as generation and processing speed of today's data pose a variety of new challenges for developing Data-Intensive Software Systems (DISS). As with developing other kinds of software systems, developing DISS is often done under severe pressure and strict schedules. Thus, developers of DISS often have to make technical compromises to meet business concerns. This position paper proposes a conceptual model that outlines where Technical Debt (TD) can emerge and proliferate within such data-centric systems by separating a DISS into three parts (Software Systems, Data Storage Systems and Data). Further, the paper illustrates the proliferation of Database Schema Smells as TD items within a relational database-centric software system based on two examples.