Management Maintenance vs. SDLC Maintenance

The best way we can define maintenance in SDLC is to differentiate the developers meaning of maintenance against management’s idea of SDLC.

In management, maintenance will always be a reaction to a problem. The only time management will become functional is when there is a situation that needs to be addressed.   There are already set of rules of policies that have to be followed in order for maintenance to be successful or even ideal.  

In management term, it is often called as a “zero-based” maintenance since there is no cost involved in maintenance except for the human resources that takes care of the system. This type of maintenance is very passive as it only fixes the system. It waits for something to happen and uses the present policies and regulations for a possible fix.

That type of maintenance could work when referred to management alone. However, if you transfer that definition in SDLC especially when it comes to software, maintenance could virtually be the end of the software.

In SDLC, maintenance is, of course, primarily a reactive process where developers try to find ways in fixing problems. There will always be a time where a bug or the lack of a certain process hinders the proper execution of a software. Developers will take a look at the problem and possibly create an answer to the concern. But maintenance does not end there for SDLC. Developers always conduct a preventive maintenance for their software. There are also companies that adhere to the idea of constant monitoring to ensure that the software works well.

But the biggest difference of maintenance of SDLC with management maintenance is SDLC’s goal to evolve the software. Every problem it faces the developer learns something new and this will be applied to the software. Eventually, the software becomes a highly efficient software.

SDLC Maintenance Objectives

There are two goals of Maintenance in SDLC: Increase the ability of the software and avoidance of failures.

Better Adaptability of the Software – SDLC’s idea of maintenance is very beneficial not only to the developers but also for the software itself.   With the use of available data, developers will learn something new.   In this account, they will be able to apply this knowledge to the software.

Although any developer would not wish for a problem, it poses a great opportunity to learn more about the industry and release updates to combat problems once and for all.  The end result of constant updates will be a better software that can adapt to the changing environment.   When a business spends thousands of dollars on project development, they expect more from the software.  Maintenance will ensure that the software will last for a very long time.

Avoidance of Failures – Maintenance does not only ensure that the problem will be fixed but maintenance should prevent the same event from happening again. Software will always have that “learning” property as long as they are handled well by the developers.   Developers will often work on the problem and at the same time give updates on the system to prevent failures.   It is essential for developers to release updates especially if the software is an important part of the business.

The goal of avoiding failures is even more important since software is basically a backbone of the business.   Nowadays, it is impossible to find a business that does not have a software to support them. Software is built only after thousands of dollars and months of development. Business owners and managers do not want to waste this time and money.   Since the software is already there, it is just normal to support this big investment to ensure the continuity of business transaction.

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