Information Technology

Information Technology Maintenance

Information Technology (IT) Maintenance refers to the processes needed to sustain an IT product throughout its operational life cycle. Modifications to the IT product are logged and tracked, an impact analysis performed, code and other parts of the IT system are modified, testing is performed, and a new version of the IT product is released. Maintenance also includes training and other daily actions used to provide support. The primary IT maintenance activities are:

  • Process implementation
  • Problem and modification analysis
  • Modification implementation
  • Maintenance review/acceptance
  • Migration
  • Retirement

The IT Maintenance process can be decomposed into specific and discrete phases.  Each phase requires different activities and skillsets, as outlined below: (see ACC IT Maintenance Process)

  • Phase 1: Problem Modification Identification, Classification, and Prioritization
  • Phase 2: Analysis
  • Phase 3: Design
  • Phase 4: Implementation
  • Phase 5: System Test
  • Phase 6: Acceptance Test
  • Phase 7: Delivery

There are three (3) generally accepted techniques used in software maintenance:

  1. Program Comprehension: is a domain of computer science concerned with the ways software engineers maintain existing source code. The cognitive and other processes involved are identified and studied. The results are used to develop tools and training.
  2. Re-engineering: is the modification of a software system that takes place after it has been reverse engineered, generally to add new functionality, or to correct errors
  3. Reverse Engineering: is a set of activities that are carried out to re-structure a legacy system to a new system with better functionalities and conform to the hardware and software quality constraint.

AcqLinks and References:

Updated: 7/28/2021

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