Don’t settle for maintaining software – sustain and evolve it

Building a new application is just the start of a multi-year journey to not only keep it running smoothly, but also ensure it keeps up with technology developments and customer demands.

As internal resources come under strain and tech debt rises, more organizations are exploring managed services to reduce the burden of software upkeep.

In this issue of Perspectives, Thoughtworks experts explain how these partnerships can be structured to elevate the business from a reactive approach to maintenance and support, to one where applications are consistently refreshed and enhanced, contributing to resilience and reducing total cost of ownership.

Maintenance and tech debt drain developers’ time

Developers spend ~1 day a week dealing with technical debt

“Companies have limited budgets in the current environment but still want to keep evolving digital products so they can adapt, respond quickly and help business resilience. But that means maintenance has to be more than keeping the lights on. You need engineering work to reduce the tech debt, and improve your architecture and software quality.”

Yang Liu
Principal Consultant, Thoughtworks

i. Change your mindset, and forget the software ‘m’-word

A tough combination of rising vulnerabilities and waning tolerance for software failures means any missteps in maintaining an application’s integrity could spell serious financial and reputational consequences. Traditional break/fix and patch-driven methods are no longer sufficient to keep software safe, stable and up to performance expectations.

These realities require a mindset shift where the care, focus and ingenuity that characterize the build phase of the software lifecycle carry through to the run phase.

Surge in software vulnerabilities leaves enterprises struggling to keep up

Vulnerabilities have more than tripled over the past ten years

ii. Talent’s role in the self-healing enterprise

As companies stake more on software, the perception of maintenance as a low-value service also must go. A digital application with a high-quality codebase requires the skills and insights of qualified developers and engineers to manage. Only people with initiative can identify the improvements and automation opportunities needed to reduce the costs associated with an application, and put it on the road to outperformance.

This kind of talent is still in short supply, but businesses that see technology as a differentiator can turn to next-level managed services, such as Thoughtworks’ DAMO™ managed services, to help raise the internal bar.