Ongoing · you have the choice

Maintenance and sparring: who keeps your software running?

After go-live, everyday operation begins, and it knows two honest answers: “We keep it running” with the maintenance contract, or “Your team develops further, we accompany them” in sparring. Both paths have three tiers, both are predictable month to month, and which one fits depends solely on how much your team wants to take on itself.

Request maintenance or sparring The tiers at a glance

Who are the ongoing offers for?

For companies whose software is too important to leave to chance.

Your custom software now carries a core process. For it to stay that way, it needs someone who takes care of it, plannable instead of on call. This page is for you if you recognize at least one of these sentences:

“The software runs, but nobody feels responsible for updates.”
“I want fixed response times, not hope for a free developer.”
“Our team wants to develop further itself, but is unsure about architecture decisions.”
“Someone who understands it should keep an eye on Azure costs and monitoring.”

What you get

Two paths, one goal: your software stays alive.

Path A · The maintenance contract

“We keep it running”: operation in view, Azure monitoring, security and dependency updates, a mandatory annual update and a support allowance with fixed response times. You take care of your business, we take care of the software.

Path B · The sparring

“Your team develops further, we accompany them”: regular sparring sessions with André Krämer or one of our senior architects, code reviews and answers to the questions that come up in your developers’ everyday work. Your team stays at the wheel.

How you find your path

Four steps to ongoing support.

1 · Conversation

We clarify together who develops going forward and who operates. From that it follows whether the maintenance contract, sparring or a combination fits you.

2 · Choose a tier

Basic, Plus or Premium: the tiers differ in allowance, response time and proactivity. You choose what your software really needs.

3 · Handover & setup

For the maintenance contract we set up monitoring and an update rhythm. For sparring we agree on the meeting cadence and get to know your codebase.

4 · Ongoing support

From now on someone is responsible: with fixed response times in the maintenance contract, with a fixed cadence in sparring. If the tier no longer fits, we adjust it.

Prices & tiers

Both paths, all tiers. Net plus VAT.

Two developers discussing at the monitor

Path A · “We keep it running”

The maintenance contract

Operation, Azure and updates in our hands, with a mandatory annual update and fixed response times. The prices apply per application up to medium size.

Basic · “Stays operational”498.00 € per month

Mandatory annual update, security and dependency updates quarterly, 2 h support allowance per month, response time 3 working days by email.

Plus · “Stays maintained”899.00 € per month

Like Basic, but updates monthly, 5 h allowance per month, response time 1 working day via Teams or phone, plus 1 health check per year.

Premium · “Fully covered”1,499.00 € per month

Like Plus, but 10 h allowance, response time 4 h on working days, 2 health checks per year, Azure monitoring with a cost check and an annual roadmap session with an architect.

Three developers working together on the delivery

Path B · “Your team develops further, we accompany them”

The sparring

Your developers build out the software themselves, our architects accompany them: sparring sessions, code reviews and answers when it jams.

Basic999.00 € per month

1× monthly 2 h sparring session with André Krämer or one of our senior architects, plus reference code and guides.

Plus1,999.00 € per month

Fortnightly 2 h sparring, plus Quality Blocks (our reference solutions) and priority scheduling.

Premium2,999.00 € per month

Weekly sessions, code reviews and an asynchronous question channel via Teams or email, an answer within one working day.

How does this fit into your journey?

Maintenance and sparring are the ongoing step of the Custom Software journey, after compass, roadmap and stages. There is no crediting here, but predictability instead: every month you know what operation and support cost, rather than buying hours on call.

Honestly

You do not have to tie yourself to us.

The source code of your custom software belongs to you, that is a principle with us. So you can carry on without us at any time, and that is exactly why the maintenance contract and sparring have to prove themselves anew every month. We keep you with performance, not with dependency.

That this support carries is shown by Systemische Hilfen Niederrhein: the solution came about in phases and became so good that Erna Software GmbH grew out of it, licensing it to similar companies. Software only stays an edge if it stays alive.

Request maintenance or sparring

Frequently asked questions

Answered clearly.

How do the three maintenance tiers differ?

In allowance, response time and proactivity. Basic keeps your application operational: a mandatory annual update, quarterly security updates, 2 hours of allowance per month, a response within 3 working days. Plus maintains monthly, with 5 hours of allowance, a response within one working day and a health check per year. Premium provides full coverage: 10 hours of allowance, a response within 4 hours on working days, two health checks, Azure monitoring with a cost check and an annual roadmap session.

What counts toward the support allowance, and what does not?

Small changes, error analyses and everyday questions count toward the allowance. Larger projects, such as a new build-out stage, we calculate as a separate stage, so that the allowance stays free for everyday work.

Can we switch between the maintenance contract and sparring, or combine both?

Yes. The two paths answer different questions: who operates the software, and who develops it further. Some companies start with the maintenance contract and add sparring as soon as their own team takes over. Talk to us, we put together the support so that it fits your situation.

Do you also maintain software you did not build yourselves?

In principle yes, but never blindly. Before taking it on we look at the application in a review, because we can only promise fixed response times for code we know. For software from our own hands this step is unnecessary. The prices given apply per application up to medium size; larger applications we calculate individually.

Who does our team work with in sparring?

With André Krämer or one of our senior architects. The sessions belong to your team: architecture decisions, code reviews, concrete questions from ongoing development. In the Premium tier the asynchronous question channel is added, with an answer within one working day.

Still unsure?

Let us clarify it in a free first conversation.

30 minutes, no obligation: we look together at who develops at your place, who operates and which tier fits. You talk to someone who understands your software, not to a sales script.

Request a first conversation

The next step

Request maintenance or sparring.

Write us a short note about what it is about: who built the software, who should develop it going forward, who should operate it? We will get back to you within one working day with proposed dates.

Quality Bytes GmbH · Brunnenstraße 21 · 53498 Bad Breisig
+49 2633 4899 430 · info@qualitybytes.de

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