Support and Maintenance
Your app is live and in the world, but how does it stand up to increasing user traffic? How will you support the newest features in the latest versions of iOS and Android? How will your infrastructure remain secure against DDoS and ransomware attacks?
Crossing the finish line of a mobile app release is never the end of the road. Let's go over how we can keep your app running as fast as it was on day one.
What does it cost to support custom software?
Your custom app is like a performance car. Making a trip to the pump and changing the oil are not enough to keep it properly maintained. If you want your app to be secure, fast, and reliable, you need to have someone constantly taking care of things under the hood.
Depending on your app's needs, the metaphor takes a bit of a turn. Instead of having one performance car, you might have several: an iOS app, an Android app, a web app, an API, and the server infrastructure to keep it all coordinated.
Here's where JMG's Server Management and Code Maintenance programs come into play! We take care of all the “under the hood” issues that keep your app performing at the highest level.
The Code Maintenance Plan
What is it?
We warranty our work on a brand new app for a short period after we've passed the app through our entire quality assurance process. This period covers bug fixes for features listed in our original agreement.
But what happens after that short period?
We don't need to tell you how fast technology can change. Apple and Google release new versions of iOS and Android at least once a year. Third party providers like Salesforce and Zapier change their services around all the time, breaking things that were working just fine.
The worst possible thing you can do as an app owner is plant your feet in the ground and not keep your app up to date.
Our Code Maintenance Plan was designed to specifically address these concerns. One low monthly investment will make sure your app is always in tip-top shape.
What does it cover?
Monitor bug/crash reports.
We keep a close eye on our automated crash reporting tools and any user-reported issues, and we fix any issues so your app runs smoothly.
Keep dependencies up to date.
New versions of iOS and Android ship yearly. Third parties update their plugins constantly. We take a little time every month to make sure your app is as up-to-date as possible.
Yearly app audit.
As time goes on, the expectations of what your software can do increases. Once a year, we look at your app with a fresh set of eyes and provide suggestions on how to improve your app and exceed those expectations.
Performance monitoring.
Speed is an expectation, not a "nice to have". We monitor your app's performance to make sure it continues to be fast and performant.
Yearly report on new iOS/Android features.
Once a year, Apple and Google announce new features that are available with the upcoming operating system releases. Following these announcements, we'll give you a customized report on how you can change your app to take advantage of these new features.
App Store listing maintenance.
Your App Store listing page is your storefront for your users. As we update your app, we make sure your storefront remains presentable and attractive.
What about new features?
Our Code Maintenance Plan is designed to maintain what you have already built. We sit down with you to scope out any new features you'd like to add to your app and price them out on an hourly basis.
What is the cost of inaction?
As technology marches past, the landscape in which your app sits gets shifted.
If you decide not to keep up with those changes, you will likely get by for a while. But eventually, something is going to happen that causes issues for your users.
Perhaps Apple releases a "dark mode" which makes the text in your app illegible.
Maybe Facebook changes their SDK so your users can no longer sign into your app.
What if Google changes location permissions so your app is no longer able to tell where your user is?
All of these are real examples our customers have faced in the past, and all of them could have been easily caught and fixed before they caused issues with their customers.
In short: an app is like a garden. We can build it, plant the seeds, and watch things grow. But without keeping a regular eye on things, eventually the garden will be overrun with weeds and invasive species. It's a lot easier to pull a couple weeds here and there.
What does it cost?
Our Code Maintenance Plan costs 20% of your original app development cost divided monthly. Once per year, we factor in any features we've added in the previous year and adjust the cost accordingly.
Here is a simple widget for you to determine the cost of the plan:
Alright, how do we get started?
Set up a 15 minute chat with a developer now or contact us for more information. We'll review your app and get you a quote for taking on your project today!
The Server Management Plan
What is it?
Your servers are the physical computers that run the brains of your app. Sometimes these are physical devices, but in our modern world, these are almost always "virtualized" servers that run in the cloud. You may recognize one of these virtualized server providers: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Digital Ocean, or Linode.
Regardless of whether you have physical or virtualized servers, these devices require routine upkeep to keep them fast and secure.
With the Server Management Plan, we take care of this upkeep for you every month.
What does it cover?
Apply security patches and updates for your infrastructure.
We seek out and apply patches for all of the components that make up your infrastructure. These fixes plug holes that would otherwise be used by hackers or other ne’er-do-wells.
Vigilant monitoring of logs for intrusion attempts.
It’s not uncommon for bots to sniff around your servers to look for ways in. We make sure these attempts are filtered out and dealt with so they don’t slow your app down.
Downtime mitigation.
Servers go down for all kinds of reasons. We work with our hosting provider to make sure your app stays up when the physical infrastructure inevitably fails.
Database backup.
The old adage for backups is: “One is none, two is one.” We securely keep copies of your data in multiple locations and test your backups to make sure they work when you need them most.
Upgrading to the most current operating systems.
We host your app on servers powered by the Ubuntu operating system, which receives brand new versions every two years. We take care of the whole upgrade process so your system can stay secure and fast.
SSL certificate installation, renewal, and management.
SSL is required by Apple and Google to have your app listed in their stores, and even if it wasn’t, we wouldn’t feel comfortable not encrypting your data as it leaves our servers. We take care of rotating certificates and fixing any issues that arise from keeping your data safe.
What is the cost of inaction?
If you were to purchase a performance car, you would likely get by with occasionally gassing it up and calling it good.
Eventually, though, performance is going to drop. You need to periodically change the oil, flush the transmission, and rotate the tires.
With custom software, maintaining your infrastructure is even more critical. Automated attempts to break into your system happen constantly, searching for systems running outdated versions of software.
If one of these attempts finds a hole in your infrastructure, they could use that hole to perform a number of business-threatening actions ranging from sending millions of spam emails to holding your databases for ransom.
What will this cost my business?
JMG’s Server Management program only costs 2 hours of development time per production server per month.
Here is a simple widget for you to determine the cost of the plan:
Alright, how do we get started?
Schedule a free consultation with a developer now or contact us for more information. We'll review your current architecture and give you a quote that is ready to sign.
