TABLE OF CONTENTS Characterising and understanding software maintenance processes and organisations are necessary, if effective management decisions are to be made and adequate resource allocation is to be provided.
Briand, Kim, Melo, Seaman & Basili [46]
This chapter aims to
Explain the criteria for choosing the right calibre of maintenance personnel.
Distinguish between the qualities of development and maintenance staff.
Describe ways of motivating maintenance staff.
Discuss approaches that can be used to increase maintenance productivity.
Explain the concept of a maintenance team and its importance.
Distinguish between the types of team, their strengths and weaknesses.
Explain the importance of educating and training maintenance personnel.
Discuss the different organisational modes for maintenance activities.
Describe the types of education and training programmes available to maintenance personnel.
During the very early days of Information Technology, when computers were very expensive and less powerful than they are today only large organisations and a few individuals used them to write programs. These were usually small programs aimed at performing relatively simple tasks, and as such, could be maintained by individuals. As the computer s capability soared and price fell, it become available in a wide variety of work settings. One of the consequences was that the demand for. complex software systems became commonplace. This led to a radical change in the context in which software was developed and maintained. In turn, this implied a need for radically different management and organisation. In effect, there has been a shift of emphasis in software maintenance; that is,...
