At our Columbus app development agency, we believe in keeping things simple and data-driven, especially when it comes to app maintenance. While the technical backend of software can get complex, the product management side doesn’t have to be. So, if you’re the product manager, this guide will help you keep your app running smoothly with a clear, common sense approach.
Whether you’re working with an internal dev team or outsourcing to a software development agency, app maintenance boils down to a few strategic decisions and recurring practices. Let’s walk through what every product manager should know when it comes to keeping an app healthy and users happy.
In-House vs. Outsourced Maintenance
First off, let’s look at your two options for maintaining an app:
- Using your internal development team (if they aren’t busy)
- Hiring an external software development agency (like Uplancer Agency)
So which one is right for you?
If you have a mature product with stable revenue and ongoing support needs, handling everything in-house makes sense. But not every business has available developer resources or can afford a fully-staffed team, which might include:
- Frontend and backend developers
- Cloud and database engineers
- Quality assurance specialists
- UI/UX designers
- Product and project managers
- Data scientists
- Project manager
Hiring this team easily costs over a million dollars annually. If that budget doesn’t align with your current growth stage, outsourcing to a trusted Columbus app development partner is a smart, scalable option. Whichever option you choose, follow these six tips for common sense app maintenance post-launch:
1. Open Your Ears and Listen!
The first step in maintaining your app is simply listening. Feedback will come from many sources: end users, customer support channels, your development team, or automated monitoring tools. It may include bug reports, usability issues, feature requests, or praise.
Your job as the product manager is to create a system that collects this feedback consistently. Consider using:
- In-app feedback tools
- Customer support inboxes
- Internal user testing
- Monitoring platforms like Sentry, Datadog, or New Relic
Most importantly, keep a direct line of communication with your users. This is where the real product insight lives for increasing user engagement.
2. Prioritize What You Hear – Not Everything Is Important
Once you’ve gathered input, your next job is prioritization. Not all feedback is equally valuable or urgent. Some issues might be simple UX tweaks that delight users, while others may be core bugs that risk damaging trust.
A good rule of thumb: evaluate each item’s impact on functionality, user experience, and business value. Early in your app’s lifecycle, this can feel like guesswork. But over time, you’ll have plenty of data to quantify that impact based on retention, usage, and revenue metrics.
3. Quantify the Value of Each Changes
This is where real product manager skills come into play. Your goal is to model the potential value of each change. Ask yourself:
- Will this change improve the lifetime value (LTV) of our users?
- Will it boost acquisition or retention?
- Does it reduce operational costs or support volume?
Use data when available. When not, lean on your intuition and always tie decisions back to measurable outcomes. If you’re working with a software development agency, they should help you model the return on investment (ROI) of proposed changes.
4. Evaluate Your Available Resources
App maintenance isn’t just about code; it’s about resource cost. Before approving changes or scheduling releases, you need to evaluate:
- Budget – What’s available at this moment in time?
- Team capacity – Who’s available to work on this?
- Tooling and infrastructure – Will changes impact your hosting, third-party services, or licensing fees?
Many updates come with hidden costs, especially if you’re adding features that require more cloud usage or enterprise-level integrations. Unfortunately, things may and usually do take much longer than anticipated. So, work with your development partner to predict some of these unknowns.
5. Plan and Execute Your App Maintenance
With your priorities and resources aligned, it’s time to execute. This means working closely with your software development agency or internal team to:
- Define the project scope and break the work down into sprints
- Set timelines and QA benchmarks
- Collaborate with marketing for announcements or user onboarding
- Create internal documentation or training if needed – this is a nice-to-have most of the time
Don’t overlook the marketing component. Promoting app updates can help re-engage users and build momentum, particularly when new features were requested by power users or early adopters. Keep those evangelists in the loop and leverage them to amplify your reach to more people.
6. Rinse and Repeat Maintenance to Optimize Your App
App maintenance must be thought of as a cycle. Listening, prioritizing, planning, and releasing is a constant loop. And the more you commit to this process, the more resilient and competitive your product will become in the market.
Therefore, expect issues: bugs will happen, third-party tools will fail, and users will do things you didn’t anticipate. That’s why having a team (either internal or external) on retainer for proactive monitoring, fast fixes, and performance optimization is crucial.
If you’re working with a Columbus app development team, they’ll likely notify you of upcoming API changes, system deprecations, or security patches. Addressing these early can prevent downtime and keep your users satisfied and engaged.
TL;DR: Your App’s Success Depends on Maintenance
The best-performing apps are not the ones that launched with the most features, but the ones that evolve through continuous improvement. Whether you’re running your product through an internal team or collaborating with a full-service software development agency, staying proactive is a huge competitive advantage.
To summarize:
- Build a strong feedback loop from users and stakeholders
- Make data-driven decisions about what to update next
- Plan releases with a clear view of cost and impact
- Keep an experienced development team on-call
- Treat maintenance as a continuous growth opportunity that loops
If you’re looking for a reliable app development agency to help with ongoing app support, we’d love to talk! From post-launch strategy to bug fixes and feature rollouts, our team can act as an extension of yours, so you can focus on growing your business.
Contact us today to get started with a free consultation.
