Engineering, Done DIRT Cheap: How an Outdated Data Architecture Becomes a Tax on Innovation

The "innovation tax" refers to the financial and opportunity costs incurred by organizations due to their outdated data architecture, which hinders innovation and slows down development teams. This tax is rooted in data and affects innovation, making it difficult for teams to collaborate and innovate as they spend more time managing legacy databases and supporting modern applications that require real-time data. The problem manifests as a complex and fragmented data architecture, leading to technical debt, reduced morale, and increased costs. However, with the right approach, organizations can simplify their data architecture and reduce this tax burden by identifying areas of complexity, creating a plan to move off legacy systems, and leveraging modern technologies like MongoDB to accelerate innovation.