It’s difficult to find a business or industry that isn’t driven by software applications. From phones and laptops to manufacturing systems to validated applications for regulated industries, software drives many of our business processes. Following deployment, the onus for overseeing and maintaining software frequently falls upon the customer. Given the need to be able to modify the system to meet evolving demands and updated business processes, a quality management infrastructure is essential for maintaining the software application.
Modern software applications are highly configurable and capable of numerous customizations, which present a unique set of challenges. Specifically, customers responsible for maintaining the software, or elements of software applications, must do so deliberately and with control. This includes having quality processes for ongoing maintenance efforts, robust configuration management and change control, risk-based decision-making, and a documentation infrastructure for executing changes in a reliable and prescriptive manner.