Software Support and Maintenance Guidelines
The purpose of these guidelines is to provide Government institutions with recommendations on best practices for software support and maintenance. This ensures that software is kept usable and updated. It also ensures that support and maintenance is carried out using a well-defined process that ensures that additional risks are not introduced to software.
Introduction
Purpose of the software support and maintenance guidelines
Software maintenance is carried out after a software product has been launched with the objective...
Overview of the software support and maintenance guidelines
Software support is reactive and covers activities to address urgent issues that arise from softw...
Scope and applicability of the guidelines
This document covers guidelines for support, maintenance, software updates and patch management, ...
Roles and Responsibilities
Definition and description of key roles involved in software support and maintenance
The following roles are involved in the software support and maintenance process: End users – ...
Responsibilities of each role
a) End users responsibilities Report issues encountered on the software Request for enhanc...
Software Support
Definition of software support
Software support is provided to users after software has been deployed to Production and users ha...
Channels for user support
The support process is initiated by users reporting issues or faults found in software systems or...
Procedures for issue prioritization and escalation
Issue prioritisation Once issues are received from users and recorded as tickets, they should be...
Communication and response time expectations
The response time is simply the amount of time it takes for the support staff to respond to an is...
Approach for troubleshooting and resolving software-related problems.
Resolution of software related problems typically follows the following steps: Identify and re...
Software Maintenance
Overview of software maintenance activities
Software maintenance is a widely accepted part of the Software Development Life Cycle. It refers ...
Types of software maintenance
There are four types of software maintenance: Corrective Software Maintenance Adaptive Softwa...
Software change management process
Software change management is the process of managing any modifications to software while minimiz...
Testing and quality assurance procedures for software updates
Testing and quality assurance procedures refer to the processes that should be followed to ensure...
Software Upgrades and Updates
Importance of software updates
Software needs to be regularly updated for various reasons including responding to new technology...
Avoiding malicious software updates
Government software maintenance teams and users should also be informed to be aware of fake upda...
Sources for software updates
A software update is a change or fix to a program that replaces the older version. There may just...
Software updates deployment and release procedures
Deployment is a shift of software from one controlled environment to another. On the other hand, ...
Risk assessment and impact analysis for updates
Risk is the future uncertainty between potential events and the potential for loss. Classic softw...
Backup and rollback procedures in case of update failures
System failures and errors can happen at any stage of a system implementation, from development t...
Security Considerations
Importance of security in software support, maintenance, and updates
Software security is critical because a malware attack can cause extreme damage to any piece of s...
Guidelines for handling security vulnerabilities and patches
Vulnerability management refers to the process of discovering, identifying, cataloging, remediati...
Best practices for ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of software and its data
Software and data integrity failures frequently occur when the code implementation and the underl...
Compliance requirements related to security.
Security refers to the systems and controls that a company implements to protect its assets, and ...
Documentation and Knowledge Base
Guidelines for documentation of support and maintenance
Software documentation is any documentation produced to describe various aspects about a particul...
Knowledge base creation
A software knowledge base is a repository or library of information about a software product. Use...
Accessibility and availability of documentation for authorized personnel
Accessible documents benefit all authorized persons by making information clear, direct, easy to ...
Monitoring and Performance Management
Tools and processes for monitoring software performance
System monitoring is the process of collecting and analyzing data about the performance and avail...
Metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) for evaluating software support and maintenance effectiveness
Key Performance Indicators help define your strategy and clear focus. Metrics are your “business ...
Regular reporting requirements to management or stakeholders
Software support and maintenance teams should regularly report their performance to their stakeho...
Compliance and Legal Considerations
Software support and maintenance teams should be aware of applicable laws and regulations and ens...