Waqas Sadiq

After completing a software project/product, its maintenance becomes very tricky if it's not properly taken care of.

Following is the high-level check list to consult to:

1. Thinking about maintaining the software for the future from the early stage is very important and also define some basic procedures.

2. Technical skills needed for the maintenance work is crucial but knowing the business side is important too. Any gap between the two is the disaster recipe. 

3. Unit testing, proper release management and continuous integration are some of the necessities to make software operational for the longer period of time with less hassle. One can also maintain the software without any of these fancy techniques by following the industry's basic practices and personal experience. Though automated testing is reduces the risk of software crashes also.

4. Technology and infrastructure enhancement with the passage of time for the software product is also very important. If it's neglected software would be a story from the past.

5. Employee retention and training mechanism (making dependable) for the new comers is very important for the success and keeping the product for the longer period of time.

 6. Learning and training for employee with the passage of time is also important so that they can understand and adopt new trends as per the requirement.