Even tech chiefs admit their content systems are crap

It seems marketers are not the only ones who are struggling with their tech stacks, with a new study revealing widespread dissatisfaction and embarrassment even among those at the coalface at the poor state of the tech stacks they work with.

According to Storyblok, which quizzed 200 senior developers at medium-large businesses, an overwhelming number of participants said their tech stack is negatively impacting their job. Some 47.5% say it made them consider quitting in the past year; 31% said they regularly thought about quitting in the past month.

When asked what made them most unhappy in their day-to-day jobs, the chief culprit was “maintaining and fixing bugs on legacy systems” (27.5%), followed by “dealing with non-technical stakeholders who don’t understand technical limitations” (21.5%), and “a lack of clear requirements and constantly shifting priorities” (14%).

Delving into issues around tech stacks, developers said the main problem is a lack of key functionality (51%), while a similar proportion (47%) said it is the difficulty of maintaining it, and a third (31%) said it is an absence of compatibility with the latest innovations, such as AI.

Outdated content management systems are a particular focus of developer dissatisfaction, with two-thirds (67.5%) saying their company’s CMS is holding them back from doing their best work, and nearly half of those saying it is a “constant hindrance” to them.

In fact, nearly a third (29.5%) would replace their CMS with a platform that offered a better developer experience, a quarter (23.5%) said they would like modern tech stack integration capabilities, one in six (17.5%) cited performance and scalability, and one in ten (12.5%) said functionality such as AI integration is a priority. Only one in 25 (4%) said their CMS was perfect.

Developers were also asked if there are any aspects of their tech stack that they found embarrassing. A quarter (24.5%) said it was the use of legacy systems, followed by excessive technical debt and workarounds (22.5%), and outdated frameworks and libraries (18%). Only 14% said they are not embarrassed by their tech stack.

The influence of tech stacks on developer job satisfaction was further illustrated when Storyblok asked how directly it tied to their professional identities. Three-quarters (74%) said it was a significant influence, with 19.5% stating it defined them. Only 2.5% said it did not matter to them.

Strangely, when asked how their tech stack compares to their competitors, half (49.5%) said they were industry leaders and four-fifths (41.5%) said they were on par.

This the study maintains, means that despite most developers recognising that their tech stack is not fit for purpose, it was in line, or perceived as better, than rest of the industry they work in – indicating that low tech stack standards are pervasive.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, AI is also now dominating how developers code – nine out of ten (89.5%) said they use AI to code frequently or constantly. Ranking the reasons why, the top was increasing efficiency at 30%, followed by automating routine tasks (23%), and improving skillset at 22%.

Storyblok CTO and co-founder Alexander Feiglstorfer said: “The message to businesses is clear – outdated tech stacks are making your developers unhappy to the point of quitting.

“Rectifying this problem means either paying developers more to stay or investing in updating legacy systems. Pay rises are a short-term fix as our research shows how closely developers tie their professional identity and happiness to the quality of the tech stack they use.

“If you want to bring joy back into your development team, and consequently improve performance and productivity, you need to commit to a modernization roadmap. Not only will this reduce developer team churn, but it will open the door to your business being able to more effectively leverage the latest innovations within AI and composable tech.”