Software Periodic Inspection (SPK), a necessity!
Software maintenance is defined as the process of modifying a software system or component after delivery to correct faults, improve performance or other attributes, or adapt to a changed environment.
Software maintenance can consume as much as 90 percent of all the total effort expended on a system in its lifetime. Some computer scientists prefer to use the term evolution rather than maintenance to indicate that a product normally and naturally evolves over time.
Many companies budget only for the cost of initial delivery of software and not the maintenance costs thereafter which then manifests into technical problems. These technical problems can lead to an application where no-one dares to carry out changes or changes are no longer in proportion to the costs they incur. This is often referred to as technical debt.
Software in any form needs maintenance. On premise software (also known as licenses software) often requires a maintenance contract. Set for a fixed percentage per year (around 22%) the owner of the software will receive updates, new features and any defects or imperfections will be repaired. A relevant question is whether these new features will actually be desirable. Often these are not used and usually do not come cheap.
Custom Software built for a specific service or application also needs maintenance. Unlike on-premise software, the client must agree on an annual maintenance contract with the supplier to ensure that necessary maintenance is executed.
Types of maintenance:
- Corrective maintenance to repair software faults, changing a system to correct deficiencies in the way it meets its requirements.
- Adaptive maintenance to adapt software to a different operating environment, changing a system so that it operates in a different environment (computer, OS, cloud, etc.) from its initial implementation.
- Perfective maintenance to add to or modify the system’s functionality or other system attribute, modifying the system to satisfy new requirements.
- Preventive maintenance is maintenance to prevent problems before they occur.
A periodic inspection by the ISSD development team (ISO 9001 & ISO 27001 certified) is to prevent problems before they occur. ISSD (issd.nl) supports companies, institutions and organizations in determining the status of the software application. The following activities are carried out on-site at the client:
- Interview with stakeholders to identify areas of concern and focus of application
- Interview with senior developer to understand application architecture and frameworks
- Review development process, deployment pipeline and documentation
- Review product and/or defect backlog
- Review code quality analysis reports
The duration of the inspection, including a status report is 3 days. The investment is € 3.120-, excl. VAT. After the inspection the client will receive a status report with findings and recommendations.
Start your software inspection here by sending an email to:
