This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.
Computer software maintenance costs monopolize an increasing portion of companies’ budgets. However, the management of a computer system on the premises involves a variety of operations, including software maintenance. Below are nine problems that we’ve identified, related to software maintenance.
1- Failures
The cost of a failure to the computer system (especially when it’s critical) may be higher than the cost of replacing equipment, damaged date or software.
2- Fault in the Installation of New Systems
An SME may be disadvantaged in comparison with the competition when a failure occurs when installing new systems or offering new services. This because systems or services will not be available during installation.
3- Data loss
No company is immune to accidental data loss or damage to equipment or software by employees. However, it has been estimated that the replacement cost related to these contingencies may exceed the company’s computer budget.
4- Changing Priorities
A lot of time is spent on software maintenance. Staff in charge of maintenance has not often completed maintenance tasks when new requests arise. This results in delaying software maintenance and undermining the effectiveness of systems.
5- Changing Priorities
SMBs operate in a constantly changing business environment.
However, the low life cycle of computer equipment (3 to 5 years) and the pace of innovation are such that a system may already be outdated at the time of implementation.
The company may then expect to assume recurrent software maintenance costs in order to replace equipment every 3 or 5 years.
These expenses are required in most cases. Upgrading equipment to respond to emerging needs may be risky if systems have not been replaced for long.
6- Labor Cost
Computer experts are expensive. The Information Technology department may then end up using a large portion of a company’s budget. However, these experts mostly spent their time on software maintenance.
7- Flaws in the Development
Because they find the expense too prohibitive, small and medium-size businesses do not devote enough resources to the development of their computer system. If they make important savings at the time of implementation, they will nevertheless have to absorb higher maintenance costs subsequently to correct the situation.
8- Lack of a Business Continuity Plan
Because they consider it too expensive, very few small and medium-size businesses have a business continuity plan for computer services. In case of failure, they must nevertheless absorb the cost connected to the system shutdown and be deprived of its use for at least two days.
This results in a loss of income up to $ 8000 plus the cost for the duration of shutdown.
9- Lack of Proactivity
Too many companies wait for a crisis to react.
However, a crisis affecting the operation of company’s computer system can affect software maintenance.
Because the company did not want to deal with the problem at the time it happened, it takes such proportions that it becomes almost impossible to solve.
HOW TO: Reduce Maintenance Costs
To overcome the problems of a computer system installed on the premises, a growing number of companies outsource server and software maintenance.
Also called cloud computing, this business model allows SMBs to:
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- reduce the computer maintenance cost
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- improve the quality of service
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- devote more time and resources to business issues
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- reduce the development cycle of applications
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- benefit from expert advices in the areas of server and software maintenance
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- improve software maintenance in the long term
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- better plan the network capacity for overall users
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- reduce the cost and time spent on managing software licenses
High Efficiency
Most cloud computing solutions ensure 99% system’s availability or a percentage of non-availability of software and servers of just 1%.
Specifically, you can use your computer system 361.35 days per year and only lose a little over an hour and a half (1.68) of use per week!
Our outsourcing solutions and software/servers maintenance are made available to SMBs PME at unbeatable prices
For significant savings on the computer maintenance cost, contact us today!
Phone: +1 450 681-3009
