Why is Software Maintenance Necessary?

Software Maintenance: For a code to work, it should be totally free of errors. You can’t expect to only remove the high-priority bugs and hope the code would work. If you are unable to fix 100% of the bugs, the software will be 100% useless.

According to statistics, of the total budget of a software development company, 60% should be set aside for maintenance alone. Out of the 60%, another 60% to improve the solution.

Read on ahead to find out why software maintenance is given such a high priority and is kept involved even after the public deployment of software?

What is Software Maintenance?

The process of modifying a software product after it has been launched and deployed globally is called software maintenance. It is a major part of the life cycle of the software product. A software development company would typically take as long as 5 years to fully develop a product, but its maintenance will last 15-20 years or until the product is retired. There are 4 main types of software maintenance services.

1. 1. Adaptive Maintenance
   • 1. · To keep the software compatible with evolving business and technical needs
2. 2. Perfective Maintenance
   • 1. · To enhance system operations and performance by modifying
        1. o Elements
        2. o Functionalities
        3. o Logic etc.
3. 3. Corrective Maintenance
   • 1. · Identifying errors in existing solutions and correcting them to make the code work more accurately
     2. · It eliminates and fixes bugs or issues in the software
4. 4. Preventive Maintenance

· Preventing potential forthcoming vulnerabilities as they are identified

Why a Software Requires Regular Maintenance?

To make sure a software product keeps working as it is intended and has a long life (as is expected of any software), regular software maintenance is necessary. Here’s why software development companies focus so much on software maintenance:

Bug Fixing

The number one reason for software maintenance is bug fixing because if a single bug isn’t fixed it will create a cascade of errors that will continue perpetually.

You might be wondering, why would anyone deploy faulty software that already has bugs? Wouldn’t it be necessary to remove all bugs before releasing the product?

Well, there are several reasons for a bug to occur when it interacts with users, other programs, or changing requirements. An error can occur due to several reasons ranging from mistakes or errors in logic to incorrectly interpreting and extracting a user’s requirements.

Performance Improvement

This type of maintenance performed by software development companies is made to improve the performance of the software. It can be to increase the efficiency, speed, or even accuracy of the program. Another important reason for this maintenance is to fix any vulnerabilities that get identified as time progresses to prevent hacking or any harmful activities.

Adapting to Evolving Market and Product Requirements

Software development companies would make new maintenances to introduce or make the software more interactive with other programs. It can add new features and functions or even make the solutions compatible with the varying market environment.

It enhances the capabilities of the software by extending work patterns, performing new hardware upgrades, improving different compiler friendliness, and much more.

Final Thoughts

Software maintenance is not an option that one can choose to skip upon. It’s like a simple blog website, which isn’t simple at all. The only way to run a blog website is to regularly upload new and reliable blogs while also updating the previously posted ones with new information.

The analogy fits perfectly with software maintenance. Once a minimum viable product (MVP) is designed, it is enhanced to be more versatile and target a bigger market. Meanwhile, keeping the main focus on the MVP and improving it with time, evolving market, and changing demands.

 

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