Every person uses mobile apps these days. Whether it is WhatsApp, Bubbleshooter, AirBnB, Domino’s Pizza, or Zara, we love it when it is available with a click. The world relies on mobile apps. It is now an integral part of our lives. But what happens behind the scenes? Who or how are these apps running so smoothly? Through application support and maintenance services! In this article, I will explain app development maintenance, why they are so important, and a few case studies for your reference. But first things first, let’s understand what application maintenance is.
Understanding Application Maintenance
Software maintenance is more like bathing. Just like you need care to survive smoothly, the application needs maintenance, too. It is a process of an ongoing maintenance process. Don’t you get updates on WhatsApp, like changes in the smiley, voice notes, or videos? These are all a part of the application maintenance process. If you think it is only a process of staying competitive, let me tell you, it does much more. It enhances security and user experience, too.
What if you think app maintenance is unnecessary and you can neglect it?
The Cost of Neglecting Maintenance
Remember Yahoo’s Security Breach in 2013? It is one of the most glaring examples of neglecting maintenance. They compromised the personal information of over 3 million users (about the population of Arkansas). And it happened only because Yahoo failed to update their system on time. They lost $350 million in market and trust. According to IBM’s “Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023,” the average cost of a data breach globally this year was $ 4.45 million. That is about a 15% increase in 3 years. In simple words, neglecting application maintenance can break a company. If you focus on application maintenance, you can benefit a lot. I will tell you about that next.
Benefits of Application Maintenance Services
If you focus on application maintenance, you can also increase user engagement. And that is not the only benefit it offers; here are some other advantages of application maintenance services:
- Performance – Application maintenance services improve performance. It will run smoothly; the app will load quickly and respond promptly without wasting valuable time.
- Security – Regular security updates protect the data of the users. Without proper maintenance, it would be pretty challenging to prevent potential breaches.
- User Experience – If developers work on bugs regularly, the user interface improves, resulting in higher user satisfaction and user experience.
Types of Application Maintenance
Now, you may wonder what you should maintain or how you should approach an app development company with the several application maintenance types available. So, here I will tell you about the kinds of application maintenance.
Corrective Maintenance
This application maintenance type focuses on issues appearing in a faulty system. It intends to restore what is broken. These are typically identified while fixing another or different problem as a part of a routine checkup. One example would be Apple’s quick response to fix the FaceTime bug that allowed eavesdropping.
Adaptive Maintenance
This maintenance involves adaptation to the changes in the market. For example, if Apple updates its operating system, you must update your app to run smoothly on an iPhone. You have to give your users full compatibility, so you need adaptive maintenance.
Preventive Maintenance
This maintenance type believes that ‘prevention is better than cure.’ It focuses on taking measures beforehand to prevent issues from occurring, like Google’s regular updates, Android updates, or security patches to keep your system running correctly.
Choosing the Right Maintenance Partner
Selecting the right custom application development company is crucial for support and maintenance. Search online and look for the ones who have an excellent track record, testimonial in other words. The developers should be experts in their field. Talk to them about your expectations, your app’s technology stack, and, most importantly, a clear maintenance plan after the development. When AirBnB partnered with Google Cloud for maintenance, the decision improved user experience, scalability, and entire performance.
The Future of Application Maintenance
As we step into the future of application maintenance, several predictions are apparent to change the technology landscape. These innovations will make application maintenance more promising, efficient and proactive. Let’s look at the predicted future.
AI-Powered Diagnostics
AI and ML can analyze an unthinkable amount of data generated by apps. They can identify issues and predict potential malware before they occur. AI can fetch abnormal traffic patterns that can be a DDoS attack.
Anomaly Detection
ML models can detect doubtful behaviour patterns within applications like account freezes when several account login failures occur. It triggers the system and informs the maintenance team to investigate the same.
Automated Code Refactoring
Artificial intelligence algorithms can review and work on the coding to enhance the application performance. It can also work on reducing resource consumption and minimizing common coding errors.
Isolation of Services
In a microservices architecture, each component of an application works liberally. This isolation reduces the risk of minor issues in one part of the app, causing more significant and major widespread problems.
All these above leads can help the application run more efficiently with fewer issues.
Conclusion
The importance of application maintenance has many folds, and I hope you understand after reading this blog. It is not hyped without a cause. I know that not all of you are tech wizards, and not everyone understands the value behind maintenance, but if you see you can’t use your favourite app properly, it will frustrate you. Your app can be someone’s favourite app, too. So, why not work on the maintenance?
By exploring the real-world examples that I have mentioned, significantly how Yahoo dropped the market, I hope you have gathered that neglecting app maintenance is not a step to consider.