Maintenance plan for software

In a safety-critical system it is vital to make sure that the latest fix or upgrade does not "break" any safety-critical software component. Development and tracking of required upgrade intervals, including implementation plan. Software may have planned upgrades built into the overall life cycle; the maintenance plan addresses how those upgrades will be developed, tested, tracked, delivered, and installed according to the appropriate upgrade schedule. Approach for the scheduling, implementation, and tracking of software upgrades.

Processes and procedures for capturing the history of upgrades to a software package, including:. Updates to documentation for modified software components. Processes and procedures to ensure that development e. Plan for and tracking of operational backup software, e. Processes and procedures for maintaining backup software software that takes over when the primary software fails. The standards, methods, tools, actions, and procedures for maintaining the backup software may be significantly different from the maintenance procedures for the primary software.

Approach for the implementation of modifications to operational software, e. Processes, procedures, resources, needed to develop, test including regression testing , and approve changes to operational software, including appropriate data capture, e. Approach for software delivery process, including distribution to facilities and users of the software products and installation of the software in the target environment, including but not limited to spacecraft, simulators, Mission Control Center, and ground operations facilities.

Processes and procedures for release, delivery, and installation of software updates to customers, including coordinating these activities with the customer's operations schedule e. Approach for providing NASA access to the software version description data, e.

Processes and procedures for NASA's access to identification, content information, licenses, etc. Licensing agreements for software components. Equipment and laboratories required for software verification and implementation. Description and identification of equipment and laboratory resources that may need to be retained from the development phases or be accessible during operations and maintenance to perform implementation and verification activities.

The project team considers the following general information for inclusion in the Software Maintenance Plan:. Additionally, guidance related to the Software Maintenance Plan may be found in the following requirements in this Handbook:.

For projects with limited staff or budgets, consider adapting a Software Maintenance Plan from a similar project, making sure to update the plan to reflect the current project's operations, maintenance, and retirement plans.

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Institutional Requirements C. Project Software Requirements D. Software Topics E. While at it, indicate the tasks that you will reserve for outside contractors. Ensure that the plan also limits access to areas that pose high risks to the facility's employees. In this phase, you can predict your spare part consumption. Once you indicate the parts that you'll need, the worker knows exactly what to pick from the store — before he goes to do the actual maintenance work.

With this section, the maintenance manager gets insight into parts used in the previous period as well as future part consumption.

They'll have an easier time preparing a budget for the next twelve months. Some maintenance tasks may require outside contractors. They include external specialists who come on-site to do specialist work. Most of them bring special equipment like mobile cranes and metering equipment tools to service assets. The effective maintenance plan specifies the work that you'll request contractors to do. With this section, you won't have to count on one specific contractor for all your maintenance tasks.

You could use these specifications to request quotes and tenders from different contractors to do a particular type of work. All the contents mentioned above join together to create an efficient maintenance plan.

Any omission is likely to result in a weakened plan. If you leave out the work, there is a chance that you may do more than is necessary and spend unwarranted resources. Once in a while, you may have to work with less-experienced personnel. Failing to include instructions in your plan will give them a hard time. Maintenance plans without a schedule often place facilities in 'firefighting' mode. You won't be in a position to maximize the performance of your assets throughout the year.

Without a section indicating the spare parts needed for maintenance tasks, you will have a hard time budgeting for your maintenance program. The absence of sections touching on workers and contractors from your plan predisposes your assets to shoddy maintenance.

Any organization looking to maximize their returns on investment should have a maintenance plan. As you create one, ensure that you don't leave out any of the essential contents of an effective program — you run the risk of weakening the plan.

The idea of having a maintenance plan is to make the most of preventive maintenance while reducing downtime. You don't always have to be on firefighting mode. Spend less time behind the computer and more time maintaining your assets!

Creating an Effective Maintenance Plan: What should you include? What is a maintenance plan? What makes a maintenance plan effective? Availability Plan. Deployment Plan. System Administration Guide. Bill of Materials. Design Document. System Boundary. Disaster Recovery Plan. System Design Document. Business Continuity. Disposition Plan. System Specifications.

Business Plan. Documentation Plan. Technical Writing Templates. Business Process. Employee Handbook. Business Requirements.

Error Message Guide. Training Plan. Business Rules. Expression of Interest. Transition Plan. Capacity Plan. Fact Sheet. Troubleshooting Guide. Feasibility Study. Change Management Plan. Functional Requirements.

Communication Plan. Grant Proposal. Verification and Validation Plan.