Testing maintainability with TMAP

If you work in software development, you know the drill: the pressure is on to launch new features quickly and often. But what happens once your system goes live and no one knows how to manage it? That’s when the trouble starts. Updates cause stress, no one dares to touch anything, and the one developer who knew everything? He’s already moved on to another job. That’s why testing for maintainability using TMAP principles is essential.

What is maintainability in TMAP?

In TMAP, maintainability as a quality attribute is essentially about how easy it is to install, manage, adjust and keep software running. All without needing to call in an expert every time or spend nights debugging mysterious issues.

If you test this properly, you’ll know whether:

• the installation runs smoothly;
• updates don’t lead to chaos;
• monitoring is properly in place;
• documentation is clear and helpful for the team.

In a world where software changes constantly and teams rotate often, this is more crucial than ever.

Why is maintainability so important in software projects?

Software that’s hard to manage becomes a time- and money-sink in the long run. Especially in Agile and DevOps environments where speed and collaboration are key. Poor maintainability leads to:

• slower releases;
• over-reliance on one person;
• more errors during maintenance;
• frustrated developers, admins and support staff.

So no, maintainability isn’t a “nice-to-have.” It’s what allows you to build and release continuously with confidence.

Real-world examples (that might feel familiar)

“The one developer who knew everything”

The app runs fine… as long as Peter is around. He knows exactly which settings to tweak for each release. But once Peter goes on holiday? No one dares to touch a thing.

“The magical config”

A dashboard works perfectly in the test environment, but crashes in production. Why? A hardcoded IP address in the code. No one knew… until it was too late.

“Wait, we’re running two versions?”

Server A runs version X. Server B runs version Y. No one knows which one is live or what’s even different. Maintainability testing would’ve flagged the lack of documentation and version control.

How do you test maintainability in practice?

With TMAP, you assess maintainability by asking smart, structured questions:

• Can the system be installed easily in another environment?
• Is the documentation complete and understandable by someone other than the developer?
• Are backups, logging and monitoring part of your test scope?
• Can updates be rolled out without crashing the whole system?

TMAP helps you build these checks directly into your testing approach.

How does Testlearning help you with this?

At Testlearning, we focus on software quality in real-world teams. Not just “does it work?”, but “will it still work when someone else takes over?”

In our TMAP: Quality for Cross-Functional Teams e-learning, you’ll learn:

• how to include maintainability in your testing strategy;
• how to collaborate in Agile teams on quality ownership;
• how to identify operational risks early on.

You can take the course wherever and whenever it suits you: mobile or desktop, with practical exercises and clear instruction.

What you can do now

Think about the system you’re working on today. Is it easy to hand over to someone else? Can it be managed without you doing everything yourself? Are updates and monitoring under control? If you want to get better at this (structurally, not incidentally) our TMAP training is for you. Because maintainability isn’t something you fix afterwards. It’s something you build in from the start.