How Tech Debt and Ballooning Labor Costs Get Created by Skipping a CDP

Let’s talk about one of the biggest traps businesses fall into when upgrading their MarTech stack: diving headfirst into shiny new tools without fixing the messy data pipes underneath. This rush to implement leads to inefficiencies, tech debt, and labor costs that balloon over time.

But there’s a better way to do it right the first time—starting with a Customer Data Platform (CDP). Here, we show you how implementing a CDP first can set your business and teams up for long-term success.

The Problem: Fragmented Tech Stacks, Data Silos, and Hidden Costs

Imagine this: Your business decides to improve its email marketing.

Leadership says, “We need a better email tool to do personalization!”

So you review all the email vendors from Customer.io, to Iterable, to Braze to HubSpot! And you finally sign a contract with Braze or Iterable.

Now, let’s integrate Braze with all of our data!

Problem solved, right?

Then realize you need to spend a 100 hours building a tracking taxonomy, writing JavaScript on your site for client side tracking, writing Node.js for server side tracking, and connecting Braze to your Snowflake warehouse.

In addition, your current tracking setup and warehouse data aren’t clean or actionable enough for personalization.

Cue the panic: “Now we need a CDP!” Suddenly, the budget doubles, leadership gets nervous, and everything gets delayed.

Here’s how it usually goes:

1. The Initial Goal: Improve email marketing and personalization.
2. The Quick Fix: Buy Braze.
3. The New Problem: Is having to do two integrations, ballooning tech debt. 
4. The Overreaction: Add a CDP late in the process, creating delays and friction.

The ‘ESP-First’ Trap: Doubling Integrations

This two-step integration process isn’t just hypothetical—it’s a common scenario we see often.

Businesses shop for a CDP and ESP simultaneously, but frequently postpone purchasing the CDP.

They believe they can ‘just get the ESP up and running first,’ and then add the CDP later.

The result is that the first integration (ESP to your data sources) has to be unwound and replaced with a second integration once the CDP is eventually brought in.

Instead of doing one clean integration through the CDP (which feeds the ESP), companies end up performing two expensive, time-consuming integrations, which leads to significant tech debt and wasted labor.

Management Pushback to CDP

When leadership sees the cost breakdown—$150K/year for Braze and another $150K/year for Segment—they’re confused.

“Why are we spending so much? Can’t we just use Braze?”

It sounds logical, but skipping the CDP is like trying to build a home on a cracked foundation.

You’re just creating problems for the future.

Why Skipping a CDP (and Picking an ESP First) Magnifies Tech Debt

What Is Tech Debt?

Tech debt is the cost of taking shortcuts. It’s like patching a leaky pipe instead of replacing it—you save time now but pay for it later with bigger repairs.

In marketing, tech debt shows up when you:

• Hardwire Braze directly to your website and data warehouse.
• Add tools like Amplitude or Drift without connecting them through a central hub.
• Have to unwind and redo integrations later because you chose to integrate Braze first, Amplitude Second, and then buy Segment CDP last.

The clearest example of this: integrating an ESP without a CDP first.

You build custom integrations, mapping data fields and event tracking directly into your ESP.

Later, when you finally realize a CDP is necessary to scale your personalization and data management, you must strip out the original integration and rebuild the data flows through the CDP.

This rework is pure tech debt—unnecessary labor and cost that could have been avoided by starting with a CDP from the outset.

Real-Life Examples of Tech Debt

The Email Tool Mess: A company integrates Braze directly with its website, web app, and  Databricks warehouse.

Six months later, they realize they need to get this same data into other tools  as they want to personalize in more than just Braze, adding integration to Marketo, and Outreach. Now they have start  the integration process over—at double the original labor cost.

Labor Costs: The Hidden Expense

Labor is your most expensive resource. Every hour spent fixing broken integrations is an hour not spent driving revenue. Here’s where the costs pile up:

• Implementation: Setting up each tool and integration using its native syntax and code.
• Maintenance: Keeping ALL those integrations running and adding more tracking to each.
• Rework: Updating tracking problems in 10 plus tools when something breaks because of a dev code change.

For larger projects, these hidden labor costs can easily exceed $500K in labor expense in a year alone.

How to Calculate Your Tech Debt

If you’re wondering how much this costs, try this:

1. List Your Tools: Write down every tool in your stack (Braze, Drift, Amplitude, etc.).

At McGaw, we’ve developed a free tool called Stack Builder that can help you account for and visualize your tools. Try it here.

1. Map the Integrations: Note how these tools connect. Are they siloed or unified?
2. Estimate Labor Costs: How many hours were spent setting up and maintaining these tools? Factor in rework, too.
3. Assess Opportunity Costs: What’s the productivity loss from time spent fixing issues instead of innovating?

Example:

• Tool Licensing Costs: $150K/year.
• Labor Costs (Implementation + Maintenance): $400K/year.
• Rework Costs when adding tools later: $150K.
• Total Costs Over 3 Years: $450,000K.

Now, compare that to the cost of implementing a CDP upfront. 

Spoiler: it’s almost always cheaper in the long run.

The Right Approach: Start with a CDP

A CDP like Segment is your MarTech stack’s command center. Here’s why it’s worth it:

• One Integration to Rule Them All: Instead of connecting every tool individually, you connect everything through the CDP.
• Faster setup up time: Implement Segment once, and connect all tools in a plug and play manner. For future tracking, you write one line of code, it works with all your tools.
• Faster Migrations: Moving from Ortto to HubSpot? With a CDP, it’s a breeze. Without one, it’s a nightmare of remapping data. 
  • McGaw migrated in 3 weeks, compared to 6 months if we had to rewrite tracking.
• Lower Maintenance Costs: A CDP handles the messy backend, so your team doesn’t have to.

Real-World Savings

Our teams at UTM.io and McGaw switched from Ortto to HubSpot in just weeks because our data was already structured in Segment. Without the CDP, we’d still be untangling data pipelines for both businesses months later.

We’ve also worked with SevenRooms, a platform that gives restaurants a 360-degree view of their customers. Our team helped them build a seamless data pipeline between systems and develop a customer health score, giving them deeper insights into customer behavior and renewal likelihood.

Want to learn more? Hear directly from Brittany Berman, Director of Strategy and Operations, on how SevenRooms benefited from our support.

Addressing Common Objections
“This Is Too Expensive”

Budget pushback is inevitable, but here’s how to flip the script:

1. Implementation Costs: Show how much time and money a CDP saves on setup.
2. Maintenance Costs: Highlight the reduced labor needed to keep systems running.
3. Lost Productivity: Explain how fragmented tools slow down your team.

Practical Example

Imagine switching email tools without a CDP. You’d need to:

• Rebuild data pipelines.
• Manually map customer data fields.
• Test integrations from scratch.

With a CDP, you just export and import data, saving hundreds of hours.

Don’t Build on a Cracked Foundation

Skipping the CDP might feel like a shortcut, but it’s a fast track to inefficiencies, escalating costs, and tech debt. Starting with a CDP simplifies integrations, future-proofs your stack, and frees up your team to focus on what matters—driving growth.

Remember: One integration (CDP first) feeds all your tools, including your ESP. Two integrations (ESP first, then CDP) doubles your work, costs, and frustrations. This is the single most important reason not to delay investing in a CDP.

Invest smartly now to avoid costly headaches later. The real expense isn’t the tools—it’s the chaos they create when they’re not set up right. Make the smart choice and start with a CDP.

Have questions? Talk to our CDP experts. Book your free consultation here.