Mastered Updates, Security, and Technical Debt
Your applications are aging, your dependencies are accumulating vulnerabilities, your code is becoming increasingly expensive to evolve; we intervene upstream to secure, modernize, and streamline your future evolutions.
What is preventive maintenance ?
Preventive maintenance consists of intervening before a problem appears : regular updates of frameworks and dependencies, applying security patches, targeted refactoring, removing dead code, and progressively improving testability.
Unlike corrective maintenance, which resolves bugs after they appear, preventive maintenance aims to prevent them. The goal : keep your application secure, modern, and sustainably scalable without suffering the “tunnel” effect of an overhaul every 5 years.
Why invest in preventive maintenance ?
Reduce your attack surface and patch known CVE vulnerabilities
Avoid reaching an EOL (End of Life) version
Divide the cost of future evolutions by 2 to 3
Keep a productive and motivated development team
Reassure your clients regarding compliance (GDPR, ISO 27001, SOC 2)
Avoid a costly €200k+ overhaul in 3 years
What preventive maintenance covers
Dependency updates
Active monitoring on npm, Composer, Maven, PyPI. Regular updates of critical libraries, management of minor and major versions.
Security patches
Application of CVE patches, vulnerability audits via Snyk / Dependabot, hardening of server and application configurations.
Technical debt reduction
Targeted refactoring of high-risk areas, dead code removal, simplification of aging architectures.
Test improvement
Increased test coverage on critical modules, addition of E2E tests, implementation of post-deployment smoke tests.
From audit to action plan in 4 steps
Initial technical audit
Complete analysis of the code, dependencies, infrastructure, and development practices. Identification of security risks, debt points, and optimization opportunities.
Audit delivered within 5 working daysPrioritized action plan
Costed report with prioritization by impact/effort. Proposed quarterly roadmap, transparent budget, alternative scenarios based on your context.
Debriefing + workshop with your teamScheduled interventions
Updates, patches, and refactoring executed in sprints. Each intervention is tested, deployed without service interruption, and accompanied by clear documentation.
Monthly, quarterly, or bi-annual cadenceReporting & continuous monitoring
Technical debt dashboard, CVE tracking, quarterly progress report. You maintain visibility and control at all times.
Quarterly reporting + real-time alertsAnticipate rather than endure.
Free audit of your application within 5 working days.
How we avoided a €250k overhaul
Context
B2B e-commerce platform on Symfony 4.4 (imminent EOL), 12,000 lines of legacy code, 18 dependencies with known CVE vulnerabilities, and no original developers left on the team.
Audit (5 days)
Debt mapping: 6 critical hotspots identified, costed Symfony 4.4 → 6.4 LTS migration plan, 47 dependencies to update, 12% test coverage.
Execution & Benefit (8 months)
Progressive migration (Symfony 6.4, PHP 8.2), hotspot refactoring, and addition of 180 automated tests. Result : a platform secured for 5 years for €85k, avoiding an uncertain €250k big-bang overhaul.
Results
Questions about preventive maintenance
Does the application need to have been developed by TheCodingMachine ?
No. We regularly take over applications developed by other providers or by internal teams that are no longer in place. The initial audit is precisely used to familiarize ourselves with the code and evaluate the takeover.
What technologies do you cover ?
PHP (Symfony, Laravel), Node.js (NestJS, Express), TypeScript, Java/Kotlin (Spring), Python (Django, FastAPI); on the front-end: React, Angular, Vue.js. For infra: Docker, Kubernetes, AWS, GCP, Azure.
Can preventive and corrective maintenance be combined in the same contract ?
Yes, and it is even highly recommended. Most of our clients subscribe to a comprehensive AMS (Application Management Services / TMA) that includes corrective, preventive, and monitoring within a single package.
Is the free audit really without obligation ?
Absolutely. The initial audit (3 hours of discussion + analysis + debriefing) is free of charge and carries no obligations. You leave with a clear diagnosis and a costed action plan, free to proceed further with us or internally.
