Software development itself is a complex process requiring a plethora of actions performed by various team members. Communication with a customer, code writing, testing procedures, changes implementation in case of their necessity… But what happens when all stages are completed, issues solved and the project is developed and successfully launched? Work doesn’t stop when the development process comes to an end, there comes time for software maintenance. And this phase is no less important than the development process. Why? Let’s discuss this question in the following chapters.
Software Maintenance – What Is It?
If you intend to implement a custom software in your business, you should accept the fact that just to launch and use it for decades without any maintenance is impossible. First, because of the constantly changing environment you have to adapt to and therefore introduce some changes in the existing software. Second, it’s impossible to fully assess the level of user-friendliness of the software without its continuous use. Generally speaking, software maintenance is a process of improvement, optimization, defects resolution of a software after its launch. It is one of the phases of the software development life cycle (SDLC) following after the software release. The main aim of maintenance is to improve the usability of the launched software by fixing problems detected during its use, and adding new functionality. As you understand, this process is pretty long-lasting in comparison with the development phase. It can take several years to develop a software, while maintenance can be a pretty long-lasting process.
Software Maintenance Types to Distinguish
Software maintenance can be performed in a number of ways, and each of them has its own specifics. At this moment there are four software maintenance types which are aimed at different aspects, you can find them below:
- Adaptive
This maintenance category presupposes implementation of amendments in compliance with the dynamically changing environment, both business and technical, and focuses on the infrastructure of a software. Adaptive maintenance doesn’t affect the behaviour of the software, so users may even not notice that something has been changed. - Perfective
Unlike the adaptive, perfective maintenance affects the functionality of the software. Along with changing the way of how the product works, perfective maintenance may also change the way it looks, which affects the users. - Corrective
This type of maintenance involves fixing bugs and issues detected in the software, improvement of its functionality by new features implementation or eliminating the unnecessary and obsolete ones. - Preventive
Preventive maintenance is aimed at prevention of any vulnerabilities in the future. This type presupposes making improvements to a product to prevent any significant alterations that may entail rework and therefore additional expenses.
Reasons Why Software Maintenance Is Now a Must
You couldn’t agree more that technologies have reached the unprecedentedly high level, and the expectations from any software are appropriate. It’s impossible to gain a high-quality product if it’s not maintained. Here are the key reasons that will persuade you that software maintenance is the essentially important process:
- Bug Fixing
One of the most important reasons why you should maintain your software. Some shortcomings may be detected in any parts of the software during the product use, and in this case it’s definitely not reasonable to leave it as it is. You will have to fix them in order to sustain user-friendliness. Generally speaking, after product launch, flawless functioning of the product requires doing work on bugs detection on the regular basis. - User Adoption
If you intend to use your software in a long-term perspective, it’s vitally necessary to take into account the changing environment and be flexible enough to adapt to a new reality. Technologies are changing very fast, we can judge it even by the last decade, and this aspect also should be kept in mind. Therefore following the latest trends, adaptation to new requirements of users is essential if you want your software to bring the use to your company. - Remove Obsolete Functions
Yes, some software functions may become outdated over the years. Obsolete features will not be used but if not removed, will still occupy space which will affect the overall functionality of the system. Therefore, if you want your software to work flawlessly and smoothly, it’s better to get rid of the unnecessary functions to make room for new features that are more valuable and really needed. - Enhancement of Software Capabilities
If you want to reach success, it’s critically important to move forward and be open for development. Taking steps towards improvement, you automatically make steps towards success. The same thing with any software: introducing new functions, features that would facilitate better interaction with users, will be reflected in your business as well.
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- Expenses Reduction
If we look at the aspect of software maintenance from the financial point of view and take into account the long-lasting period of time you intend to use the software, it becomes obvious that expenses for maintenance are entirely justified. Software maintenance allows you to promptly reveal and resolve the issues, to avoid a snowball effect and therefore more significant expenses.
Conclusions
Software maintenance is a very important process if we consider it from a long-lasting perspective. All maintenance types are aimed at sustaining the software in excellent condition. If you use maintenance services, you can be assured that your system functions flawlessly, and even if some issues arise, there is a possibility to resolve them promptly. Also, it gives you more flexibility, since you can be more responsive to changes in the environment, which gives you an indisputable advantage. If you are currently in need of a custom software development and search for a reliable partner that also offers maintenance services, please contact us, our team will make every effort to create a great project in accordance with your requirements.