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Whether we talk about the education, IT, marketing, automobile, research or business sectors, every area is occupied with the usage of a number of apps that make their day-to-day operations easy. Especially after the pandemic, digital platforms have increased the demand for tailored software products.
The software development process starts with the planning of acquiring the resources to be employed. It incorporates several activities, namely picking up suitable methodology, designing the architecture and layout, coding, testing, and maintenance – the most crucial aspect.
Whether application, programming, or system software, software development is not an easy task, let alone the hefts of software maintenance.
UNDERSTANDING SOFTWARE MAINTENANCE AND ITS IMPORTANCE
Like every other person, you must be updating the apps installed on your cell phone or laptop every now and then. It happens because the developers constantly work on the softwares to upgrade them to keep up with technological advancements.
Although the process of software project maintenance comes into play after the creation or delivery of the software product, we can not overlook its importance.
Software maintenance is required to keep up with the technological advancements, to fix any errors or bugs, to enhance software’s security performance and functioning, and to improve the user experience so that your business doesn’t get last place in the race.
When we change our approach of looking at this from a regular perception to that of a software developer or a software developing company, you will realise that software maintenance is not as easy as installing an updated version of an application is.
Not just complex, but this task is also expensive, and in today’s cut-throat competition, the service providers look for ways to cut the costs and offer services at lower outlays to the customers.
Stick with us to know about the major factors that you must think about that affect software projects maintenance costs.
MAJOR FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE OVERALL COST OF SOFTWARE PROJECT MAINTENANCE
- Staff Management And Training:
Managing and providing proper training to the staff is a primary requirement when we talk about software maintenance costs. Software needs upgrades at regular intervals, and this calls for a team of professionals at work, including the designers, developers, engineers, programmers, managers, and quality assurance personnel.
Also, it is a pretty obvious fact that the team who has originally worked on the development of particular software knows its ins and outs in a much better way than anyone else. They have a thorough understanding of the particular project, which is useful at times even after creating or delivering the software.
So retaining the team is as crucial as spending your money and efforts on hiring and training. Only if it was this easy to maintain the staff we weren’t discussing this factor here. In reality, the maintenance part of every software accounts for almost 80 percent of the total cost (sometimes also referred to as Total Cost of Ownership-TCO), and staff maintenance considerably has a greater share in this cost.
- Fixing Hardware Glitches:
In order to add on new attributes to a software program or to incorporate user suggestions into it, you have to upgrade the hardware as well. And improved hardware means your program also needs to be modified in such a way that it can perform well accordingly. This is an essential component when we talk about software maintenance from the aspect of security and privacy issues as well.
Now one noteworthy thing is that your team might create a software program that can be executed on a single type of hardware for like forever. But it is neither practical nor advisable as you just can’t sit holding onto a particular technology in a rapidly advanced world where anything can go obsolete day in or day out.
- Role Of External Environment:
The external environment plays a crucial role in developing certain softwares which are used to assist a particular framework within a country or at the global level. For instance, Tally developed its version of ERP9 incorporating the GST laws to comply with India’s taxation structure. This can be the case with any such app, which makes it inevitable to study the impacts of the external policies.
- Refactoring The Codes:
When your business scales up or when software’s security standards need to be improved, you’re likely to consider code refactoring. It is a process that becomes unavoidable as time passes by due to clutter deposits in codes and necessary modifications. Note that refactoring doesn’t account for rewriting the codes; rather, it involves moderating the code structure to improve the efficiency of the software.
It reduces the maintenance cost to a considerable value and keeps your program’s health pretty good. Although its effects do not change the way software functions, not giving it a thought can result in wastage of efforts, money, and time.
A QUICK LOOK
Software maintenance is a never-ending hustle that starts after deploying a software program. So far, we’ve discussed those factors that have notable consequences in this aspect.
Although the estimation of software maintenance costs varies for different programs, some of the vital expenses include hosting costs, commission charged by the search engine, licensing expenses, code refactoring and layout updates, etc.
ABOUT SovTech
SovTech is a global, leading software development and maintenance company. SovTech is your go-to option for software project management requirements. Their professional approach towards digital product development is backed up by advanced tools.
Contact SovTech today for a free consultation and quotation!
