This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Krishnan, M. S. Articles by Kriebel, C. H. Search for Related Content

A Decision Model for Software Maintenance

Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, 701 Tappan Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1234
Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
mskrish{at}umich.edu
tridas{at}cmu.edu
ck04{at}andrew.cmu.edu

In this paper we address the problem of increasing software maintenance costs in a custom software development environment, and develop a stochastic decision model for the maintenance of information systems. Based on this modeling framework, we derive an optimal decision rule for software systems maintenance, and present sensitivity analysis of the optimal policy. We illustrate an application of this model to a large telecommunications switching software system, and present sensitivity analysis of the optimal state for major upgrade derived from our model. Our modeling framework also allows for computing the expected time to perform major upgrade to software systems.

Key Words: software maintenance; system replacement; stochastic model; legacy systems
History: This paper was received on July 21, 1999.