Saving Costs Working with An Application Maintenance Company Explained 

Companies continue to scale their technology systems, maintaining and optimizing these applications becomes an ongoing challenge. This is where an application maintenance service company plays a critical role, offering the expertise and resources necessary to ensure applications run smoothly, securely, and efficiently.

For many businesses, outsourcing application maintenance to a third-party service provider offers significant cost-saving advantages. Whether it’s improving application performance, improving security, or extending the life cycle of an application, working with an application maintenance company can reduce costs while increasing productivity. Still, saving costs can be tricky when you’re working with a company; you can easily get caught in expenses adding up, leading to you paying more than intended. This is why it’s important to have a clear and set plan to help in the budgeting process.

What is an Application Maintenance Company?

It is a company that specializes in providing ongoing support for software applications. These companies are dedicated to ensuring that the applications continue to meet the needs of businesses by providing services such as bug fixes, system updates, performance optimization, and security management. In many cases, these companies also help businesses improve or upgrade applications to stay aligned with evolving business goals and technology trends.

There are four types of application maintenance, these types are:

• Corrective Maintenance: It includes fixing bugs, errors, and issues that affect application performance.

• Adaptive Maintenance: It involves modifying the application to work with new environments, platforms, or business processes.

• Perfective Maintenance: It includes enhancing and optimizing the application based on user feedback or performance analysis.

• Preventive Maintenance: It involves the application maintenance company identifying and addressing potential issues before they cause problems.

Because these tasks can be very complex, many businesses choose to partner with an outsourcing company instead of trying to manage maintenance in-house. By outsourcing maintenance, companies can achieve significant cost savings and avoid the complexities of hiring and retaining specialized in-house teams.

Is In-House App Maintenance Expensive?

Before we explain how partnering with an application maintenance company helps save costs, it’s important to know the hidden expenses associated with managing app maintenance in-house. While it might seem cost-effective to handle maintenance internally, several factors can drive up costs significantly:

1. Salaries and Benefits

To properly manage app maintenance, companies need a skilled team of developers, systems administrators, and IT specialists. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary for a software developer is approximately $132,270 per year. These salaries are just the start, as businesses also must make room for additional benefits, healthcare, and other overhead costs, which can increase the total compensation by 20% to 30%.

2. Training and Upskilling

Application maintenance requires specialized knowledge of the latest frameworks, platforms, and security protocols. In-house teams, just like an application maintenance company, need continuous training to keep up with these changes, and this training comes at a cost. According to the 2022 Training Industry Report, companies in the U.S. spent an average of $1,300 per employee on training and development. For a growing tech team, these costs can quickly add up and cause companies to pay a lot.

3. Software Tools and Infrastructure

Maintaining applications requires investing in specialized software tools, infrastructure, and testing environments. Whether it’s different tools, new software, or version control systems, these tools come with their own licensing fees and setup costs. For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), this may represent a significant upfront investment.

4. Time Loss

Maintaining an application instead of working with an application maintenance company is time-consuming, and the resources dedicated to maintenance could be better spent on strategic business initiatives or new projects. Diverting attention to app maintenance can delay the development of new features, innovation, and revenue-generating activities.

How an Application Maintenance Company Helps Save Costs

A lot of companies are choosing to outsource because of the belief that it’s cheaper. Outsourcing app maintenance to a third-party company offers a range of application maintenance cost saving benefits. Let’s explore how businesses can reduce maintenance expenses and improve operational efficiency by partnering with an application maintenance company.

1. Reduction in Operational Costs

One of the most immediate cost-saving advantages of outsourcing app maintenance that companies notice and love is the reduction in operational expenses. When businesses work with an app maintenance company, they don’t have to invest in hiring a full-time team of specialized professionals or purchasing expensive software tools. Instead, businesses can benefit from the expertise of a dedicated team that’s already equipped with the necessary tools, skills, and resources to handle ongoing maintenance.

According to a report by Statista, the global services market for application maintenance reached $32 billion in 2024. However, app maintenance cost per year can vary significantly depending on the size and complexity of the application. However, outsourcing these services to an application maintenance company can often be much more affordable than hiring in-house experts.

2. Access to Specialized Expertise Without High Hiring Costs

An app maintenance company brings specialized expertise that businesses may not be able to afford or attract with in-house teams. Whether it’s dealing with legacy software, mobile applications, or complex databases, a maintenance company has the skills to address issues efficiently and proactively. Moreover, since these companies handle multiple clients, they can leverage economies of scale, offering high-quality services at a fraction of the cost of hiring full-time specialists.

Hiring specialists in mobile app maintenance, security, and software optimization can cost businesses upwards of $100,000 or more annually per expert. By outsourcing to an application maintenance company, organizations gain access to a wide range of expertise without paying these high hiring costs.

3. Licensing Coverage and Compliance

Obtaining and maintaining the proper licenses for tools, frameworks, and security protocols can be expensive and time-consuming yet overlooked. Research has shown that 85% of organizations don’t fully comply with their software license agreements, which can be very problematic for the company. This is why an important cost-saving benefit of working with an application maintenance company is that they often cover all necessary licenses, including software, security, and regulatory compliance licenses. When businesses partner with a maintenance provider, they typically provide the required licenses as part of their service package, helping businesses avoid additional costs and administrative burdens.

Many companies, for example, offer software licensing. They provide bundled licensing for development tools, IDEs, and third-party libraries, meaning businesses don’t need to separately purchase and manage these licenses. Whether it’s for cloud services, database systems, or APIs, the maintenance company takes care of these costs, providing access to software without the need for additional purchases.

In addition, businesses must receive a comprehensive Service-Level Agreement (SLA) from the application maintenance company that includes legal assurances on the maintenance and licensing of applications. The SLA works as an insurance that all the needed and necessary licenses for ongoing support, updates, and security patches are all covered.

4. Proactive Problem Solving and Reduced Downtime

An important cost-saving aspect of working with a maintenance company is the proactive approach to problem-solving. Instead of waiting for issues to arise, maintenance companies constantly monitor and optimize your application. This proactive approach ensures that problems are detected and fixed before they escalate into expensive emergencies.

Downtime can be costly for any business. The Ponemon Institute revealed that the average cost of downtime is $9,000 per minute. For businesses, the cost can be substantial. By outsourcing with an application maintenance company, businesses can minimize downtime and avoid the costs associated with prolonged outages.

5. Providing Scalability and Flexibility

As applications grow, you may find yourself needing more frequent updates, optimizations, or integrations with other systems. Working with a maintenance company provides the flexibility to scale maintenance services as needed. Whether it’s a temporary increase in workload or an ongoing need for additional resources, an application maintenance company can quickly adjust its services to meet changing requirements.

Many maintenance companies offer flexible pricing models based on the size of the project, or the number of services required. This scalability means businesses can avoid paying for unnecessary resources during periods of low demand, saving on long-term maintenance costs.

6. Focusing on Core Business Functions

Outsourcing app maintenance allows businesses to concentrate on their core functions. Rather than diverting attention to software issues and updates, companies can focus on growth, innovation, and customer acquisition. By leaving the technicalities to maintenance experts, businesses can leverage their resources more effectively.

Instead of focusing on business growth, internal teams might spend valuable time troubleshooting software issues or manually handling updates. Outsourcing to an application maintenance company frees up internal resources to work on higher-value projects, which will lead to saving costs and gaining more business.

7. Providing Security and Compliance

Security is a top concern for businesses of all sizes, and outdated software presents a significant risk. By partnering with a maintenance company, businesses can ensure their applications are regularly updated with the latest security patches and comply with relevant industry regulations (such as GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI-DSS).

The cost of a data breach can be catastrophic and can greatly affect business. According to IBM’s “Cost of a Data Breach Report” the average cost of a data breach in the U.S. is around $9.44 million. Regular mobile app maintenance ensures that security vulnerabilities are identified and resolved before they become serious issues.

Saving Costs with Flairstech

At Flairstech, we have an approach to application maintenance like no other. With over 400 applications under our belt, we bring deep expertise and experience to every project, ensuring your systems are well-maintained and operate at peak efficiency. Working with an application maintenance company like Flairstech will increase system efficiency by 40%, which means that your applications run smoother and faster, reducing the time and resources spent on troubleshooting and fixes and leading to a 30% reduction in operational costs.

In addition to performance improvements, we are committed to zero downtime during app maintenance, meaning your business operations remain uninterrupted and you won’t lose any business. Our expert team, consisting of over 300 certified professionals, provides proactive support and ensures that your applications are always running optimally, preventing potential system failures that could happen with an application maintenance company that could lead to expensive emergency fixes.

In addition, we put so much focus and effort into the longevity of your systems by offering continuous support, regular updates, and optimization. This approach helps extend the lifespan of your applications, avoiding the high costs associated with early system replacements or unnecessary upgrades. We also ensure that all necessary security and compliance standards are met, including ISO 27001 & 9001 certifications and GDPR compliance, safeguarding your data and maintaining compliance with global regulations while ensuring your applications are always running smoothly.

Another advantage of working with us is that we manage all necessary licenses needed for smooth application maintenance. As an application maintenance company, it’s important to take responsibility for the management of software, security, and regulatory compliance licenses.

We eliminate the administrative burden and reduce costs associated with obtaining, renewing, and tracking these licenses. This end-to-end service, coupled with our commitment to security, efficiency, and compliance, ensures a cost-effective and seamless maintenance experience, delivering significant long-term savings while protecting your business from potential legal or operational risks.

Managing and maintaining applications is not an easy task. That’s why it’s important to partner with an application maintenance company that can help you save costs. From reducing operational expenses to providing access to specialized expertise, outsourced maintenance services help businesses optimize their application while avoiding the high costs of in-house management. When choosing a company, it’s important to have a layout of your priorities so you can choose wisely while saving costs.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is an app maintenance company?

An application maintenance company is a third-party service provider specializing in maintaining and supporting software applications after they’ve been developed and deployed. These companies handle a variety of tasks, including software updates, bug fixes, system optimizations, security patching, and ensuring that the application remains functional, secure, and compliant with industry regulations.

2. How can outsourcing app maintenance save costs?

Outsourcing app maintenance can save businesses money in several ways. Firstly, it eliminates the need for a full-time, in-house team to manage application updates and troubleshooting. Maintenance companies already have the necessary expertise, tools, and infrastructure, which lowers operational costs. Secondly, outsourced companies typically offer more efficient systems, reducing downtime and minimizing disruptions, which leads to less revenue loss.

3. What are the key benefits of working with an application maintenance company?

Working with an app maintenance company provides several key benefits, including cost savings, improved system efficiency, zero downtime, security and compliance, and longevity of the system.

4. Why is it important to maintain system security and compliance in application maintenance?

Maintaining system security and compliance is critical in application maintenance to protect both the application and its users from potential risks. Security vulnerabilities can lead to data breaches, financial losses, and reputational damage. Compliance with regulations such as GDPR, PCI DSS, or ISO 27001 ensures that your application meets industry standards for data protection, privacy, and security.

5. What are the risks of not investing in application maintenance?

Neglecting application maintenance can lead to a variety of risks, including security vulnerabilities, compliance issues, increased downtime, and higher long-term costs.

6. How often should an application be maintained?

The frequency of application maintenance depends on the complexity of the application and the industry it serves. However, most apps should undergo regular updates every few months, with more frequent checks for security patches and compliance updates. Critical apps may require weekly or monthly maintenance to ensure optimal performance.

7. What are the common challenges businesses face with app maintenance?

Common challenges include managing frequent updates, ensuring system compatibility with new technologies, addressing security vulnerabilities, and maintaining compliance with evolving regulations. Outsourcing to an application maintenance company helps contain these challenges by providing specialized expertise and proactive management.