Why Organisations Believe Their Software Is Too Complex for CD

Many organisations cite software complexity as a barrier to continuous delivery, but real obstacles are technical debt and lack of investment in quality and automation.

Published on 24 February 2025

Written by Martin Hinshelwood

1 minute read

https://nkdagility.com/resources/T-sHn-OUIvR

Every organisation claims their software is too complex for continuous delivery. It’s not. Complexity is an excuse, not a blocker.

Microsoft’s Azure DevOps team proved it. They moved from shipping new features every two years to every three weeks. At their peak, they were delivering nearly 300 features annually. This wasn’t because their codebase got simpler—it didn’t. They invested in quality practices, tackled technical debt head-on, and built the pipelines needed to deliver continuously.

The real blocker isn’t complexity. It’s the willingness to invest in fixing what’s broken. If Microsoft can do it at their scale, with their legacy systems, what’s your excuse?

Also published on: LinkedIn

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