August 19, 2024

What are software maintenance costs?

We often think software is a “set and forget” investment. You build it, it does the job, and you profit—right?

Sometimes, yes.

But often, no.

Software maintenance can include any, usually many, of the following things:

• Paying an in-house team of developers OR

• Paying for regular security updates from freelancers OR

• Paying fines/fees from data breaches due to unpatched software

• Paying the hosting costs of whatever provider you’re using + any included platform fees

• Paying for the licenses to use off-the-shelf solutions

No matter how you slice it, software has long-term costs. You can reduce them, optimize them, and sometimes avoid them altogether.

No matter what, you shouldn’t ignore them.