Kentico Ongoing Support and Maintenance - Ensuring High Platform Availability

Our team can provide access to knowledge on running projects, which will enable the user to solve any problems on their own. The above task is most often realised through preparing materials such as:

• training courses and webinars,
• instructions and manuals,
• solution documentation,
• a list of answers to the most frequently asked questions.

We assign a hotline team to handle requests (incidents) from end customers. The support team accepts requests in accordance with the developed procedure, through such communication channels as: the ticket system (usually Jira), by phone, email, or via chat. The team's scope of work includes:

• acceptance of the request,
• clarifying the report (if the data provided is insufficient),
• categorising incidents and defining problems (according to P1-P4 distinction),
• handling/solving the reported issue itself,
• if necessary, redirect the request to the appropriate downstream support line,
• proactively monitor the request handling process and support the end user in rectifying the problem.

Completed projects are assigned to highly experienced teams that monitor the performance of the existing solution and keep it in good shape. This work concerns both the application layer and the hosting environment. It can be divided into:

1. Corrective Maintenance Services - developing and deploying technology solutions to the production environment in response to issues reported by the Service Desk. Corrective work is often covered by an SLA, which defines the response times, workarounds and solutions we are obliged to provide.
2. Adaptive Maintenance Services - software updates and modifications when the platform on which a developed application runs needs to be changed. This work includes, but is not limited to the implementation of planned changes to the system and/or infrastructure (release management) and execution of fixes and updates to deployed systems e.g. (Sitecore, Kentico, Umbraco).
3. Preventive Maintenance Services - preventive monitoring of the application and hosting environment performance within a set scope and cycles for critical elements of the solution. This reduces the likelihood of an unforeseen failure and allows repairs to be scheduled to avoid it. Work in this area includes cyclical alignment of environments and monitoring:
   • availability of infrastructure elements (cloud or on-premise), up-to-date operating systems for the infrastructure
   • operation and availability of applications including integration (APIs),
   • available updates of implemented applications and other solutions launched for the purposes of the project,
   • the performance of backups and the possibility of restoring the environment on their basis.

All the work is monitored by the Jira system. The client has a full view of the history of requests and the response, bypass and resolution times. Comprehensive reporting is also provided as part of the above service.

 

Perfective Maintenance - as part of these activities, the team improves the existing solution both in terms of the user interface and in the technical area. The aim is to reduce the risks associated with the deterioration of the developed software. The scope of this work includes:

• Preparation of new features in the user interface.
• Development related to, among other things, increasing the speed of the application.
• Extending the functionality of the system itself.
• Increasing the performance of the solution.
• Updating documentation.
• Training of users on the client's side.

Evolutionary Maintenance Services - work that responds to changes in, for example, the law or the technology used. This service is most often used when the client needs the developed application to interoperate with new hardware or systems.

We assign teams to develop software from scratch or based on external licensed solutions. The scope of this work also includes extending existing applications with larger modules and features that can't be included in the third support line (e.g. due to the complexity of the new implementation).