Software Maintenance After Development: What's Next?

Software maintenance is just as important as its development. It allows solutions to adapt to changing technological and business situations.
Traditionally, software development outsourcing companies advise their clients to use software maintenance services to improve and ensure the stable operation of the system. This is because many software improvements occur precisely at this stage, and therefore a successful development collaboration cannot end with the release of the product.
In fact, according to the author of the book "Facts and Fallacies of Software Engineering", maintenance typically accounts for an average of 60% of total software costs, and "it is, perhaps, the most important phase of the software life cycle."
Software maintenance helps expand programs. Unfortunately, it is easy to overlook the transition from the software development team to the maintenance staff. Usually, organizations are so focused on completing the project that they forget about post-project management and maintenance tasks.

What is software maintenance?

The Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) includes a major management procedure called software maintenance. The main goal of software maintenance is to eliminate faults and improve system performance by modifying and updating software applications after they are deployed.
After the program is developed and deployed, software maintenance operations take place. As a result, minimizing errors, removing unsuitable developments, and using advanced development methodologies increases software performance.
On the other hand, software maintenance is not limited to the post-development phase. Developers must not only ensure the security and scalability of their program but also eliminate errors during its creation. If they do not constantly add new features and fix issues in their software, it may become obsolete even before release.

4 Different Types of Software Maintenance

There are 4 types of software maintenance, associated with different reasons and goals.

• Corrective - Corrective software maintenance is the practice of keeping an application operational. End users usually notice errors in design, logic, or code.
• Adaptive - Changes in the environment can affect the operation of software applications. This can be due to hardware upgrades, operating system updates, or infrastructure changes. Changes in vendors, connections to new or existing supporting systems, and even security policies or industry compliance requirements are all examples of environmental changes.
• Perfective - Changes in perfective software maintenance are usually evolutionary in nature. As end users become familiar with the program, they begin to compile wish lists for new features. In some cases, perfective maintenance includes removing unnecessary or redundant functions.
• Preventive - Preventive software maintenance is akin to putting a bandage on a wound. It involves making minor, incremental changes to software applications so that they can operate for a long time.

Transitioning a Project from Development to Maintenance

Transferring a project from the development team to the maintenance team is often complex and difficult. Fortunately, there are several guidelines to follow during any such changes.

• Selecting Reliable Leaders - Project team leaders, such as development managers, business analysts, and other stakeholders, maintain contact with maintenance team leaders. Knowing who to turn to for advice and decision-making can reduce risks and facilitate a smooth transition. Team leaders should discuss how the new software application will affect or change existing Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
• Prepare a Transition Budget - Companies should remember the need to budget for the transition from development to maintenance within the project. This should not be rushed or overlooked. The company must ensure that all stakeholders recognize the need to develop a reliable support strategy. This budget may also cover the need for additional staff after implementation is complete.
• Start Early - When transferring projects from development to maintenance, the "drop and run" method should be avoided. Development companies should allow maintenance teams to observe development teams' work long before they complete the task, involve them in meetings and important communications, and keep everyone informed of important decisions. Development teams will better understand the current state of the existing architecture and can make more informed decisions if maintenance team members use software applications that are present from the beginning.
• Communication - Companies should remember that maintenance staff may not fully understand why certain decisions are made, why certain priorities exist, or why certain expectations are held. By communicating such details, maintenance personnel can better support the software and show empathy and responsibility when responding to future end-user questions.
• Documentation - The support procedure relies heavily on documentation. To guide future support work, skilled technology professionals learn to anticipate documentation needs. They should consider the wishes of end users who may seek justifications for creating certain features or capabilities, as well as the rationale behind decisions made.

An additional benefit of thorough documentation is that it aids future development. Development teams and companies should not rely on the same developers always working on updates and bug fixes.
Documentation items to include:

• Overview
• References
• Assumptions
• Contacts
• Licensing and Agreements
• Diagrams and prototypes with a list and brief description of features and capabilities
• Configuration details such as directory structure and administrative functions
• Startup, shutdown, backup, restore, and archiving - all operational items.
• Security details

Knowledge Transfer

Although documentation is an important aspect of the knowledge transfer process, it is not sufficient. The challenge is to share knowledge between existing and future teams, while evaluating each person's work in each team and understanding that each possesses knowledge in areas that others may not.
Companies should ensure that the transition procedure includes enough time for existing and new maintenance management teams to overlap as much as possible. When support requests start coming in, having a resource that maintenance staff can turn to for advice and assistance can be very helpful.
This also means that the duration of maintenance should remain clearly defined and understood by all parties involved. Being able to define a clear line fosters a sense of responsibility and allows both teams to move forward correctly.
While each software development project differs in scope and complexity, each transition process helps standardization and learning. When post-implementation and transition meetings are held jointly with maintenance teams, everyone has the opportunity to analyze accumulated experience and develop best practices.