Roderick Designs offers various maintenance agreements with different levels of participation between us and you. If, for some reason, you don't have the time or staff for maintenance, we can custom design a plan to suit your needs. However, you are under no obligation to have us perform maintenance.

Maintenance is a process whereby system components are monitored and updated to assure proper functionality. Hardware components will fail periodically, that is a fact. What happens after a hardware component fails depends on the policies of the hosting company and the website owner's policies. Most hosting companies offer daily site back-ups and diesel electricity generators in case of prolonged power outages. However, in the end, it is the responsibility of the website owner to insure that her data is backed up. How that responsibility is executed usually depends on the type of content on the website. For example, if you have a blog where there are months or even years of posts and comments, regular backup is very important. Owners of ecommerce sites have data regarding their product line which include prices, descriptions, images. There is also data on the layout and configuration of the store, info on the customer base, transaction history and much more data that would be hard or impossible to replace without an adequate backup policy.

Software maintenance involves making sure your website is running the latest versions of system software and application software. Most hosting companies maintain the system software and the website owner usually takes care of the application software i.e. the software that runs or assists in running your website.

Website content updates are sometimes thought of as maintenance. Generally it is the process of updating the site's content to a prescribed level of currency and relevancy. Website owners usually set the standard for site updates.

Website upgrades also come under the heading of maintenance. That is when certain segments of the website undergoes significant changes. This could even include a site-wide makeover.

For all maintenance efforts, particular consideration should be given to what will be updated and who will do the updating. This should occur before a new site is built.

Roderick Designs can provide your maintenance service needs, you can perform it yourself or have a third party provide that service. Whatever option you choose, it requires thoughtful consideration.