Why it’s important to have ongoing support agreements
12 Nov 2018
When a web or app build is complete the real work is beginning. Your vision is live, your target is engaging with the platform, this is where the real learning and reshaping begins through ongoing maintenance and support.
There are two potential streams of maintenance that are required. One is more urgent, where platform updates are required due to changes in the marketplace, we need to amend for updates quickly. The second stream is understanding that the platform we have built, whether web or app based, are intended to be around for a while. Here we consider changing business requirements and competitive play. We want all the platforms that we work on to exist well into the long term and to do so requires ongoing maintenance to keep them in play.
Both of these maintenance elements are often overlooked post build in terms of an ongoing management plan and this is remiss. Essentially they are unavoidable and everyone has to think about them to secure a build with longevity.
Urgent upgrade maintenance
Having a maintenance agreement in place with your development agency for urgent upgrades is important for the user perception of quality, reliability and integrity of your build and company. Your build’s life depends on it. In addition, the nature of software development and the constant changes in technology invites continual updates. Examples include updates to android and iOS operating systems, new phones on the market, examining active log reviews to avoid any issues and more. It is therefore important to have a support team to attend to any fixes required.
At Sentia, we encourage our clients to have a confirmed agreement in place because it’s smarter and allows us to assign time on an ongoing basis. It means as soon as a problem arises it gets serviced as opposed to waiting a week for development time to be allocated and have the upgrade implemented.
In our agreements we also include after-hours service for the instances it may be required. People don’t operate 9-5 on the internet and we make sure we are aligned to that same marketplace.
Maintenance that ensures life for the long term
Maintenance in this context is about upgrading an application or web platform to ensure it remains productive and/or cost effective. Any assets in business require maintenance and having a maintenance plan in play minimises the threat of long term risk and ensures the longer term life of your build.
Upgrading to a newer release with additional features, updating associated data, complying with new regulations, upgrading to a bigger server all necessitate maintenance of your build. This kind of work on the underlying platform is required on your build so that it stays up to date and continues to function in a secure and reliable manner in a way that your users expect.
Managing maintenance for app or web builds
The nuances between websites and app maintenance are particular and can make a world of difference for long term growth. Websites can derive increased benefit from ongoing SEO support and analytics for example. Apps are more focused on increased scale, technology and platform changes. Whichever build, ensure the maintenance is well thought out against objectives and can facilitate increased growth.
Taking the next step
At Sentia, we know how to implement your initial vision as well as take you from launch into the long term.
If you’d like an initial chat to better understand how we can help you, get in touch with us via our contact form.
Sources
Beale Darren, March 26, 2018, What is better: in-house mobile app development or outsourcing app development?
Fields, Homiera, August 2017, Having an ongoing agreement to support all kinds of maintenance is a business decision.