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Platform Maintenance Processes

This document defines the maintenance processes for ConnectSoft's expanding portfolio of 100+ SaaS platforms. It is written for platform engineers, operations teams, and stakeholders responsible for platform maintenance.

Maintenance processes ensure that all platforms remain secure, performant, and up-to-date while managing the operational burden of maintaining 100+ platforms.

Note

Maintenance processes leverage Factory-driven automation to apply updates across platforms efficiently and consistently.

Maintenance Overview

flowchart TD
    Platform[Platform] --> Evaluate[Evaluate Platform]
    Evaluate --> Criteria{Maintenance Tier Criteria}
    Criteria -->|High Strategic Value<br/>High Usage<br/>High Revenue| Tier1[Tier 1: Core Platforms<br/>Active Development<br/>Monthly Updates]
    Criteria -->|Medium Strategic Value<br/>Medium Usage<br/>Medium Revenue| Tier2[Tier 2: Standard Platforms<br/>Regular Maintenance<br/>Quarterly Updates]
    Criteria -->|Lower Strategic Value<br/>Lower Usage<br/>Lower Revenue| Tier3[Tier 3: Niche Platforms<br/>Security Updates Only<br/>As Needed]

    Tier1 --> Factory1[Factory-Driven Updates<br/>Priority]
    Tier2 --> Factory2[Factory-Driven Updates<br/>Standard]
    Tier3 --> Factory3[Factory-Driven Updates<br/>Security Only]
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Maintenance Tier Structure

Platforms are assigned to one of three maintenance tiers based on strategic importance, customer usage, and revenue contribution:

Tier 1: Core Platforms

Characteristics: - High strategic importance - High customer usage - Significant revenue contribution - Critical infrastructure components

Maintenance Level: - Active Development - Regular feature enhancements and improvements - Regular Updates - Monthly updates with new features and improvements - Priority Support - Priority bug fixes and support requests - Proactive Monitoring - 24/7 monitoring and alerting - Performance Optimization - Regular performance reviews and optimizations

Examples: - Identity Platform - Audit Platform - Config Platform - API Gateway Platform - Payment Processing Platform

Update Frequency: Monthly

Tier 2: Standard Platforms

Characteristics: - Medium strategic importance - Moderate customer usage - Moderate revenue contribution - Important but not critical

Maintenance Level: - Regular Maintenance - Quarterly updates with bug fixes and minor enhancements - Security Updates - Immediate security patches and updates - Standard Support - Standard SLA for bug fixes and support - Standard Monitoring - Business hours monitoring and alerting - Performance Reviews - Quarterly performance reviews

Examples: - Email Service Platform - Notification Platform - File Storage Platform - CRM Platform - Workflow Engine Platform

Update Frequency: Quarterly

Tier 3: Niche Platforms

Characteristics: - Lower strategic importance - Lower customer usage - Lower revenue contribution - Specialized or niche use cases

Maintenance Level: - Security Updates - Immediate security patches only - Bug Fixes - Critical bug fixes as needed - Limited Enhancements - Major enhancements only when justified - Basic Monitoring - Basic monitoring and alerting - On-Demand Support - Support on request

Examples: - Vertical-specific solutions - Specialized platforms - Long-tail platforms

Update Frequency: As needed (security updates immediately)

Maintenance Tier Assignment

Assignment Criteria

Platforms are assigned to maintenance tiers based on:

  1. Strategic Value (40%)
  2. Critical infrastructure component
  3. Enables other platforms

  4. Differentiates ConnectSoft

  5. Customer Usage (30%)

  6. Number of active tenants
  7. Usage volume

  8. Customer satisfaction

  9. Revenue Contribution (20%)

  10. Revenue per platform
  11. Growth potential

  12. Market size

  13. Maintenance Complexity (10%)

  14. Update frequency needed
  15. Technical debt
  16. Dependencies

Tier Review Process

Frequency: Quarterly

Process: 1. Review platform metrics (usage, revenue, satisfaction) 2. Evaluate strategic importance 3. Re-assign tiers as needed 4. Communicate changes to stakeholders

Factory-Driven Maintenance

Automated Pattern Updates

Process: 1. Factory templates updated with improvements 2. Automated analysis identifies platforms using patterns 3. Updates generated for affected platforms 4. Automated testing validates updates 5. Updates applied based on maintenance tier

Benefits: - Consistent improvements across platforms - Reduced manual effort - Faster update cycles - Quality assurance built-in

Security Updates

Process: 1. Security vulnerabilities identified 2. Factory generates security patches 3. Automated testing validates patches 4. Patches applied to all affected platforms (all tiers) 5. Immediate deployment for critical vulnerabilities

Timeline: - Critical: Immediate (within 24 hours) - High: Within 1 week - Medium: Within 1 month - Low: Next scheduled update

Architecture Improvements

Process: 1. Architecture improvements identified 2. Factory templates updated 3. Improvements propagated to Tier 1 platforms first 4. Rolled out to Tier ⅔ platforms in subsequent cycles

Examples: - Performance optimizations - Scalability improvements - Observability enhancements - Security hardening

Maintenance Activities

Regular Maintenance Tasks

Daily: - Monitor platform health and performance - Review alerts and incidents - Check security advisories

Weekly: - Review platform metrics - Analyze customer feedback - Plan upcoming updates

Monthly (Tier 1): - Deploy updates and enhancements - Performance optimization - Security review

Quarterly (Tier 2): - Deploy updates and bug fixes - Performance review - Maintenance tier review

As Needed (Tier 3): - Security updates - Critical bug fixes - Major enhancements (when justified)

Update Process

Steps: 1. Planning - Review update scope - Assess impact - Plan deployment

  1. Development
  2. Factory generates updates
  3. Code review

  4. Testing

  5. Testing

  6. Automated tests
  7. Integration tests

  8. Performance tests

  9. Deployment

  10. Staging deployment
  11. Smoke tests
  12. Production deployment

  13. Verification

  14. Monitoring

  15. Monitor metrics
  16. Watch for issues
  17. Collect feedback

Documentation Updates

Process: 1. Platform updates trigger documentation updates 2. Factory generates documentation updates 3. Review and refine documentation 4. Publish updated documentation

Frequency: - Tier 1: With each update - Tier 2: Quarterly - Tier 3: As needed

Maintenance Metrics

Platform Health Metrics

  • Uptime - Target: 99.9%+ for Tier 1, 99.5%+ for Tier 2
  • Response Time - Target: P95 < 200ms for Tier 1
  • Error Rate - Target: < 0.1% for Tier 1
  • Security Incidents - Target: Zero critical incidents

Maintenance Efficiency Metrics

  • Time to Deploy Updates - Target: < 1 day for Tier 1
  • Update Success Rate - Target: > 99%
  • Automation Coverage - Target: > 80% of updates automated
  • Documentation Currency - Target: > 95% of docs up-to-date

Customer Satisfaction Metrics

  • Platform Satisfaction Score - Target: > 4.5/5.0
  • Support Response Time - Target: < 4 hours for Tier 1
  • Issue Resolution Time - Target: < 24 hours for Tier 1

Maintenance Communication

Update Notifications

Tier 1: - Release notes for each update - Email notifications to customers - In-app notifications - Documentation updates

Tier 2: - Release notes for quarterly updates - Email notifications - Documentation updates

Tier 3: - Release notes for major updates - Documentation updates

Change Management

Process: 1. Announce upcoming changes 2. Provide migration guides if needed 3. Support customers during transitions 4. Collect feedback