There’s lots of talk about preferring slightly costlier reliability over the questionable ‘lowest rates’. Even if the budget is limited for some reason, complex projects will definitely require post-release services of your contractors. Not necessarily the same ones that built your app – but preferably, since nobody can maintain your app better and faster than those who created it. This brings us back to a reliable contractor with the rates acceptable for your budget. Your contractor is a partner, and not just a one-time short-term hire. You are most likely to collaborate after the deployment. Let’s see why and how.
For unexperienced people the necessity of further support and maintenance of an application comes to bugfixing, which any smartphone or tablet user (or more precisely, app user) witnesses from time to time. This is incorrect. There are more activities, opportunities, and responsibilities that the team takes over. It’s basically all sides of the care about the app.
Most of the modern mobile apps are client-server apps, so the presence of web service/backend is hardly disputable. As a result, there is a need for updates; and they happen even in such simple software products as book apps and flashlight apps. Here is what your development company can do for you:
1. Reacting To Emergencies
This kind of fixing deserves a separate overview. Crashes of online processes may be the reason for immediate reaction, for example, if there is a risk of security breach. Errors in the logic can be even worse than crashes – they will require cleaning them up. Any urgent issue may arise at any time, and it’s the task of your developers to address and eliminate it as soon as possible – then make an update to keep the users confident that everything has been set to order.
2. Extra Functionality
Software owners tend to upgrade their products with additional features and enhancements. Conditions for the necessary flexibility are usually set from the beginning.
3. Design Improvements
Redesigns are also quite commonplace. Either a new feature requires it, or feedback from users with suggestions on changes – redesigning is more efficient if the same team works on your product.
4. Scaling
With the success of the product, the user base grows. Scaling on the server side will require efforts of your developers.
5. Regular Bugfixing
There are many possible situations when you’ll have to fix reported bugs: new hardware of different screens and performance powers; API updates, platform updates; changes in your business environment (for example, you want/have an app for internal use and have to change the type of employees’ devices). These may not be fixes of emergency, yet you will need someone to do the job.
Yes, and everybody fixes bugs from time to time: Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and even Apple. We should also mention that updates, for whatever purpose, are good. Users love updates, they need to know that their favorite app is taken care of. Updates improve the ratings of your app.
6. Changes In Software – Changes In Documentation
Whenever you receive your software, you receive its documentation. Changes in software should be reflected in the documents – even minor updates, minor changes in the code and minor bugs fixed.
7. Dispelling The Uncertainty
Sometimes it’s required not to just code exactly what a software owner wants. The most widespread example is when software owners don’t know what they want, don’t have any well-written documentation, or simply have no experience in building software products whatsoever.
In combination with a limited budget, it’s sometimes impossible to implement all of the ideas you might have. A good development team is able to consult and find the optimal iterational way of developing a product on the existing budget and deploying it on the market, with further updates for the money monetized, and the feedback gained from users upon the first release. Together you can analyze the results and take further actions, release new versions. It’s quite useful to have creative experts up your sleeve.