Micro-outsourcing Software Maintenance
Summary
Bespoke systems can be effectively supported by outsourcing their maintenance to Village Software. This releases internal staff to focus on the key points of change in a company while leaving important systems in a safe pair of hands.
Introduction
One of the least glamorous areas of information technology is the maintenance of bespoke applications. The key developers move on to other projects and companies. The software is either maintained in an ad-hoc manner or valuable personnel are pulled off critical new projects to manage legacy systems. On occasions a company moves away from bespoke development or a supplier moves on and a system becomes entirely and dangerously orphaned.
Important and expensive systems are lost due to lack of maintenance. An organisation sometimes can't alter surrounding systems for fear of disturbing an unmaintained system.
Micro-Outsourcing Software Maintenance
Bespoke systems maintenance can be effectively outsourced to a suitably equipped third party such as Village Software Engineering Limited. Village will pro-actively manage the bespoke software, we will:
- Keep records up to date.
- Resolve software bugs.
- Upgrade to new operating systems.
- Advise on enhancements.
- Monitor batch jobs.
- Web enable existing software.
Service Provision
Each organisation is different and there is no single model for providing software maintenance, the following should be seen as an outline of some of the areas of maintenance.
Business Rule
Bespoke software is based upon a set of business rules that are unique. Understanding the business of the client is essential to providing a good quality of service and understanding the client's priorities. Village personnel have experience both in producing and maintaining software and in working for internal IT departments.
Reverse Engineering
The quality of software varies greatly depending on the competence and resources available to its creators. At the beginning of a project Village will examine the code and existing documentation to gain an overall understanding of the software. We will maintain records of the software or if necessary generate new documentation.
On some occasions software has become so poorly structured that it isn't maintainable without a substantial rewrite.
System Maintenance
Village's programmers will examine bug reports and failures in the system in order to recommend and implement a bug fix. On occasions it might also be necessary to work on the underlying data to remove erroneous data that has resulted from a bug.
System Build
Bespoke systems normally outlive the release of the operating system that they were designed for. They will need upgrading to a new version or complete rebuild on a new operating system. Village will undertake the planning, building, testing and implementation for new operating system releases.
It may be necessary to upgrade a system to a recent supported release of the development software, if any.
Enhancements
The business environment and the systems environments are constantly changing. Village can advise on and implement enhancements to the core system and its interfaces. This may be something simple such as a new set of reports or a major change reflecting a change in business practices.
New/Web Front End
Village can add a new front end to most systems. This might be a web based front end or simply an enhanced graphical interface. It is even possible to add a web front end to green screen applications.
Systems Supported
Operating Systems:
UNIX & Linux, Windows & DOS.
Development Tools:
Microsoft Office, Microsoft Access, Visual Basic and VBA, Borland Delphi, Borland C++ Builder, C and C++, Informix 4GL Oracle OLAP, Perl, HTML, Java Script
Relational Databases
We'll support systems on any relational database system or desktop database. This includes those in the list below:-
SQL Server, Oracle, Informix, Interbase, Postgres, Paradox, dBase
Personnel
Most support will be conducted remotely from Villages offices in Liverpool. It is also of course necessary to get out and meet key people and understand the clients business. At some points of the project we will need to be regularly present on site. Village will appoint staff with a suitable mix of skills. A lead contact will be appointed but there will also always be a second member of staff so that there is continuation of cover for holidays, illness and resignations.
Contracts
A suitable support contract will be agreed depending on the customers requirements. Village is looking to take on contracts with an annual cost of £5,000 to £60,000. It is likely that there will be handover costs at the beginning of a project.
What to do next
We will need to jointly examine candidate systems. Please contact:
Business Analyst, Jonathan Read  There will be no charge for the initial days consultation.
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Apr 2008 
