If you have to touch or change a large codebase in a significant way, then consider other options like sunsetting. Is it worth it to put in the work needed to keep the project working?
There’s a lot more to say about the importance of maintenance and the need to better valorize this necessary work, but in the life cycle of technology projects, maintenance often exposes a particular organizational challenge. The true cost of maintenance is often hidden. And why is that?
Technology projects can start with an even distribution of effort between various stakeholders and technical staff. Once a product is in maintenance mode it can sometimes lead to an uneven distribution of effort.
There’s a long tail to these costs and they can often be most heavily borne by our most productive, successful, creative technical colleagues. Even if the percent of time for each one might be low over time, they still take up head space and can lead to more anxiety and context switching. So surfacing these costs at times like a major migration, can help us do the cost benefit analysis.
Page Updated: 2018-04-09