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Maintenance can be interpreted in different ways. In my software career it basically means "no new features" and "bug fixes for a known duration". It's more a p

by d_sem 4y ago

Maintenance can be interpreted in different ways. In my software career it basically means "no new features" and "bug fixes for a known duration". It's more a project lifecycle status to be understood by customers/stakeholders rather than a distinction in software development activities. I hope not sound too critical, but the authors product model perspective is one I would expect a junior software developer to propose; as it does not consider a wider perspective that includes sales/business side of things. When I sell a software product, customers have certain contractual expectations about what they are buying, and what support they are paying for.

fuzzfactor 4y ago
A straightforward "product" is a fairly comprehensive solution that does what it says on the tin, and gives enough people their money's worth to be viable as is without an actual necessity for any ongoing support or maintenance in the simplest of cases. Such a product can well be developed on a project basis and with successful completion the development can then halt altogether and those resources redeployed in a subsequent project which can actually be completely unrelated to the first. But the simplest of cases is not what is usually found. At the other end of the spectrum the hardware area has some good examples where sometimes the physical hardware "product" purchased and delivered amounts to a much less significant contribution to the Total Cost of Ownership when it comes to the product aquisition itself. Some products just by nature or design whether because of complexity, or maybe just defects, aren't really that useful without essential ongoing factory support and maintenance which ends up costing much more than the purchase price of the "product" initially. Sometimes even a hardware purchase is just the ticket in the door for the manufacturer to provide more profitable follow-up services, resulting in more steady cash flow for years to come. Things can get a bit nebulous when the product doesn't really have a tin to say everything you need to know before buying it, but it's definitely possible and sometimes the only acceptable thing, for the most suitable software product to be the one that requires no ongoing support or maintenance. Unlike hardware there's nothing physical to wear out or replace. So there'e even more chance with software to come up with a clean separation between those projects which are best brought to successful completion, resulting in a product that can stand on its own, versus having the project itself be the actual "product" and having that be never-ending. What the author's saying is everything should be never-ending which is ruling out some of the most effective solutions to some of the most important probems.

by d_sem 4y ago

fuzzfactor 4y ago

A straightforward "product" is a fairly comprehensive solution that does what it says on the tin, and gives enough people their money's worth to be viable as is without an actual necessity for any ongoing support or maintenance in the simplest of cases. Such a product can well be developed on a project basis and with successful completion the development can then halt altogether and those resources redeployed in a subsequent project which can actually be completely unrelated to the first. But the simplest of cases is not what is usually found. At the other end of the spectrum the hardware area has some good examples where sometimes the physical hardware "product" purchased and delivered amounts to a much less significant contribution to the Total Cost of Ownership when it comes to the product aquisition itself. Some products just by nature or design whether because of complexity, or maybe just defects, aren't really that useful without essential ongoing factory support and maintenance which ends up costing much more than the purchase price of the "product" initially. Sometimes even a hardware purchase is just the ticket in the door for the manufacturer to provide more profitable follow-up services, resulting in more steady cash flow for years to come. Things can get a bit nebulous when the product doesn't really have a tin to say everything you need to know before buying it, but it's definitely possible and sometimes the only acceptable thing, for the most suitable software product to be the one that requires no ongoing support or maintenance. Unlike hardware there's nothing physical to wear out or replace. So there'e even more chance with software to come up with a clean separation between those projects which are best brought to successful completion, resulting in a product that can stand on its own, versus having the project itself be the actual "product" and having that be never-ending. What the author's saying is everything should be never-ending which is ruling out some of the most effective solutions to some of the most important probems.