Let’s begin with a fictitious scenario. You and two of your college pals created an application that, let’s say, B2B companies use for email retargeting (this is all completely fictitious). After you created a functional piece of software, it somehow became viral. To put it another way, it gained popularity quickly, and hundreds of customers contact you every day to inquire about bugs, new features you’re working on, etc. Before you realize it, most of your time is being devoted to regular (and not just regular) maintenance and support amongst the three of you. You’re dreaming of being able to actually sit down and work on enhancing and expanding the functionality of your software. What you need is a remote support and maintenance crew that can take care of these tasks while you focus on the previously mentioned important details.
Naturally, there are other fictitious scenarios when a business might benefit more from using a remote support and/or maintenance crew. For instance, you might require assistance with website upkeep and support if you own an online business or website.
Now, the question is, how can one make the most of this kind of relationship?
Identify the Correct Persons
Selecting the appropriate individuals to handle your maintenance and support is the first and most important step. To put it plainly, no matter how hard you strive, if you make the incorrect decision, nothing you do will ever matter.
To start with, it would be ideal if they had some experience in maintenance and assistance. Hiring someone with multiple jobs under their resume can significantly increase your chances of receiving the desired results, as experience in this industry develops competence.
Naturally, your support and maintenance crew should be familiar with open source if you are developing open source software. This also holds true for many platforms and languages.
The top firms will be more than ready to give references with potential clients; their previous work is also a wonderful method to find out what you can expect from them. Should you sense that they are being evasive while providing references, this could be a major red flag.
Hiring them should only happen if you are confident they can provide the level of support and upkeep you need. Additionally, confirm that you are not being defrauded.
The Value of the Big Picture
When developers take on a support and maintenance crew, one of the biggest mistakes they make is not to fully describe the big picture to them. Stated differently, they regard them as mere employees, which is a grave error.
You should keep your remote maintenance and support staff as informed as feasible. It is imperative that they comprehend the essence of your software, its future direction, and the optimal user experience it offers. Your program ought to be visible to them in the same manner that it is to you. They ought to be attending to more than just this “thing”.
The best aspect is that a reputable partner for upkeep and assistance will want this. Like you, they will be curious about your program. They will be aware that there is no other way for them to give you the assistance and upkeep you require.
Taking care of this “thing” alone will make things difficult for you and remove whatever enjoyment they may have from their task.
Interaction. Interaction. Interaction.
Communication is the most crucial factor in a remote support and maintenance relationship. Your business will not be sharing the premises with your new partner for support and maintenance. The “remote” follows.
They won’t be able to stop by and inquire about something they don’t understand. It won’t be possible for you to merely stroll over to them and inquire about a fascinating bit of information you are getting from your clients.
Actually, there are many partnerships including partners from all around the world that are involved in remote assistance and maintenance. They thus work in various time zones, making it occasionally challenging to communicate in person at all times. For this reason, you should treasure the infrequent times when you and your distant colleagues are in the office together.
During these hours, you should also schedule regular meetings to discuss problems, ideas, and discoveries with your partners. The majority of experts concur that video conferencing is the ideal option as it gives conversations a more intimate feel.
In fact, you may want to consider using one-on-one video conversations rather than emails and conventional chats, at least occasionally, because of the advancements in technology. This will further improve collaboration by bringing your remote colleagues closer to you and your staff.
Naturally, the majority of the time, a channel of continuous communication will be established between the customer and the remote support and maintenance staff via software, an intranet, or another similar tool.
Maintaining Leadership
No matter how skilled they are, hiring a remote support and maintenance crew alone is insufficient. Customers must always be involved and make sure that their clients are receiving the upkeep and support they are entitled to.
This would entail conducting separate conversations with clients to ensure they provide frank, unbiased feedback regarding the assistance they have been receiving. The client will also want access to bug reports and maintenance logs, as they will show what kind of work the maintenance and support staff have been performing.
While remaining vigilant, the client should never forget that life occasionally has glitches and errors, and that they are not necessarily indicators that their maintenance and support partners are failing to provide their all. Having said that, it could be time to reconsider the partnership if their services are consistently poor.
Ultimately, everything revolves around the final consumer and what they receive.
Final Word
One of the best things you can do for your software, customers, and business is to bring on a remote support and maintenance staff.
But there are a few things you need to remember to make it the best thing ever.
Everything requires some effort.
