Blog > Planning For Software Maintenance After Launch
Simple modern software is a collection of various parts that result in the overall system required by users. It is, however, important to note that the part of the entire system end-users interact with is only one phase of the software in its entirety. Apparently, the crucial components include the frontend, the backend, the database as well as underlying platform.
Planning for software maintenance after launch is an important phase to get desired results.
Just like any system, the software must evolve or change. When the software commences operation, some shortcomings may occur in the form of glitches. Then the operating environment may change and the user requirements continuously increase.
This launches the planning for software maintenance after launch will consider as the key component of the post-implementation. Although the maintenance aspect of custom software can be said to start after a warranty period. The maintenance phase of the software is very crucial however, it hasn’t received the same attention as the other phases.
Importance of Planning for Software Maintenance
Similar to what is obtainable in any system that involves more than one part, a defective unit throws the entire system into disarray. Planning for maintenance can be traced to a number of factors but the most common culprits include patches, updates, and glitches. With several locomotive parts, the patches and updates that occur on a somewhat periodic schedule are vital, and keeping up with them guarantees continuous functionality.
Engineers try to demonstrate the importance of software maintenance by comparing your software to your car. Oil, tire alignment, tune-ups, and replacing a defective part keeps your car moving and this applies to your software too. Regular software product care guarantees the optimum performance of your software.
The concept of car maintenance is easily comprehensible, right? The more you drive your car the more the parts wear out. The more they wear down the more replacement becomes imminent because they are physical. So, the question is why a digital ecosystem requires maintenance so long as it was properly built from the onset. Does the code or programming wear out over time?
Well, needless to say, the software doesn’t physically wear off but certain actions need to take to preserve the purpose of the product. Physical maintenance can connect to the virtual maintenance required by software but further examination reveals that functional software depends on a proper plan and budget.
Types of software maintenance
Software maintenance is simply the modification of software post-delivery to fix bugs, improve performance, or adapt the product to a changed environment. Basically, there are four major types of maintenance;
- Corrective: this mainly involves fixing glitches that can occur when users interact with the software. This is usually common after the first version of the software. The corrective maintenance simply repairs faults discovered when the software is in use
- Adaptive: This type of maintenance is concerned with the change required by the software to cater to the needs of a new environment. An example includes getting the software to run on a new operating system or patches released for the environment the software is running.
- Perfective: This type of maintenance arises from user feedback and is aimed at functional enhancements. It involves modification of the software post-delivery to improve maintainability, usability, and performance.
- Preventive: arguably the most crucial. For example, you have managed to arouse the interest of end-users with a new update hence, the need to prepare for massive traffic in days to come. You need to fortify your server to handle the expected kind of load in order to avoid a crash. That’s what preventive maintenance is about.
Software Maintenance Cost
The cost of software maintenance cannot be easily determined. It depends on a lot of factors including the budget of the company, the user base, and the complexity of the software. There is no industrial standard baseline or calculation for estimating the cost of maintenance.
Author: SVCIT Editorial
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