“It is harder to read code than write it.” *

As legacy applications get older, supporting and enhancing them becomes more and more costly,  time-consuming,  risky and difficult to predict.  Managers may feel a cloud of uncertainty hovers over every project and there is a lack of control and visibility over the software maintenance work.  The software may become more and more complex with an increase in defects creeping into production.  Compounding or driving these issues there may be reductions or turnover in staff.

Do you know what your maintenance programmers actually do when working on their tasks?  Do they all do it the same way?  Is there a best way?  Do some of them waste valuable time or make costly mistakes because they use well-worn but outdated techniques?

The discipline of software maintenance has lagged well behind that of new software development.  However, software maintenance typically accounts for at least half of IT programming budgets and as much as 80-90% of lifetime software costs.  Can the software maintenance process be improved? Yes!  Basic training in the processes and techniques of software maintenance can make a measurable difference in results – in productivity, quality, visibility, control, planning and estimating.

Maintenance programmers spend on average half of their time just trying to comprehend the programs they are working on.  What are they doing when they do that? How do they go about it?  Can it be improved?  Again, the answer is yes.

By working with leading software industry experts, vLegaci has created a unique training program specifically designed for maintenance programmers.  The program is comprised of training for a number of skills that are crucial to the software maintenance job.  The training program for each client is individually tailored to the client’s unique circumstances.

Benefits of software maintenance programmer training include:

• Increased productivity
• Improved quality – reduced defects
• Increased depth and breadth of staff ability to work with applications
• More consistency in programmers’ work
• Better estimating and more predictability
• Improved team communication and morale

The complete training program includes not only programmer training, but consultation with IT management about how to get the most out of the newly skilled team.

Contact vLegaci now, here , for more information and a free consultation on how this unique program can benefit your organization.

* Believed to be first said by Joel Spolsky.