Part 4/6:
One core challenge stems from the age and diversity of existing infrastructure. Most data centers and systems are not built to be perfectly consistent; instead, they evolve naturally over years or decades. These environments often include:
Multiple versions of hardware and software
Divergent configurations
Different paradigms and operational schools of thought
This heterogeneity is largely attributed to technical debt, a term describing the cumulative effect of quick fixes, outdated components, and suboptimal decisions made over time to meet immediate needs but at the expense of long-term maintainability.