The Importance of After Hours Software Support

Working hours are generally regarded as 8.30 am to 5.30 pm during the week (Monday to Friday). Any time outside of this window is regarded as “after hours”. After-hours software maintenance or software support is vital for your business success, and this article aims to show you why.

The world is always shifting and moving. The business environment is a completely transformed one, and has seen a ton of progress over the last 50 years. From door-to-door salesmen to high-end business meetings – these are all being conducted, to some extent, with the use of technology. We are now witnessing online meetings being conducted with participants from all over the world (and in the comfort of their own offices/homes). The catalyst to all of this has been the rise in the development of technology.

Technology has broken down geographical obstacles and obliterated international time zones. We are now an interconnected world. This means that people have access to information, but more importantly for this blog post, they have access to your software solutions, whether it be a website or an application. We as consumers are no longer limited by geography, time zones, and normal shopping hours.

Here are some reasons why it is important to always have after-hours support for your software:

Avoid Frustrated Clients, and Users:

With the use of social media, everything that happens is displayed for everyone to see. When a user’s software goes down (within or after hours), and there is no after-hours software support to solve their problem, they get frustrated and vent their anger online. Our generation are used to instant gratification, and want their issues solved instantly. When customers get frustrated with a product, they will most likely leave bad reviews and comments. This can lead to negative marketing, and is not good for business.

Keep Your Business Running, and Profiting

Many business’s rely on their software as a sales portal to generate income – whether that be actual online sales, or through marketing campaigns. In order to maintain a steady income flow it is imperative that your software stays up to date, functions correctly and can generate the income desired. After hours software support ensures that this is possible.

Avoid Losing market Share

In today’s society, business competition is fierce. Companies are building software to answer certain questions, or solve a community problem. This, however, leads to a number of different companies trying to solve the same issue. If we apply this with an example, and look at two similar tools today, we could analyse My Space vs. Facebook. No doubt many people have not even heard of My Space, as it isn’t as popular as Facebook. When your software has after hours breakdowns or malfunctions, a lack of software support will result in your clients easily finding another alternative tool to use instead.

In conclusion:

In a world that never sleeps, neither can the technology we use and rely on. Time is just an illusion, which we accept as part of our turn in front of the sun. This is why after hours software support is so critical. We need to ensure that software stays active and live at all times for all users.

About SovTech:

SovTech is a custom software development and software maintenance company. We design, build, deploy and maintain innovative custom software that has helped our clients to start, run and grow world-class businesses.