What Does a Best-in-Class Software Update Process Like?

By: Crispin Luxton

Given that improvements in your organization’s software update process can make it more successful (read the “Why You Should Care About Software Updates” blog post), then it makes sense to consider what a best-in-class software update process would look like.

Here are eight best practices to consider when examining your organization’s current software updating processes:

1. Rationalized, customer-focused requirements process – Every organization should have a structured process in place for gathering input from customers, technical support, sales, marketing, and executive management.
2. Well-defined version numbering – Numbering conventions are critical when it comes to effectively managing software updates and delivering quality technical support. Organizations sometimes push out small software patches without assigning them a number at all, which can make the support staff’s job much more difficult. 
3. Clear frequency/installation policies – Customers have plenty to do besides maintain your software. Yours is also not the only software they have to maintain. So it’s important not to overwhelm them with frequent updates and/or updates that require much time and energy on their part (i.e. a full MSI package vs. a self-extracting .exe).
4. Appropriate communication and transparency – Your organization should establish simple procedures for notifying all appropriate internal and external stakeholders about software update content and scheduling. This prevents technical support and account managers from being blindsided when customers reach out to your internal team with issues. 
5. Diligent testing/quality assurance – Given their workload, it can be tempting for development teams to skimp on testing updates—especially when those updates involve relatively small amounts of code. But experience reveals that sometimes even the smallest of updates can wreak havoc if those updates are not adequately tested. 
6. Coherent software licensing and pricing strategy – While it is reasonable to provide free updates and upgrades for a period of time, the value provided by improvements and new features added to your software product may eventually warrant charging additional fees. As a result, you need to make sure that you have a software licensing and pricing strategy to support your software update process and policy. 
7. Clearly-defined software lifecycle with policies for end-of-life and end-of-support – As new updates are rolled out, you may also have to decide which older software version(s) you will continue to support—and which ones you will not, a sensitive issue if your organization provides software as part of a broader set of products and/or services.
8. Customer-centric update experience – There are also a wide range of technical considerations involved in fully optimizing the software update process in order to safeguard the quality of the customer experience while delivering the greatest possible value in terms of functionality, performance, reliability, security and ease-of-use.

The above is not an exhaustive list of all the issues associated with software updating. It does, however, provide clear evidence that your organization should probably engage in some thoughtful, collaborative planning if you want to ensure that your software updating makes a positive contribution to the performance of your business.

Want to learn more about setting up a world-class software update process? Read the full whiter paper: Software Updates and the Customer Relationship