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Two Reasons Businesses Resist Investing in Maintainability

publish date: 2026/06/24 21:16:14.684432 UTC

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Which of the following are reasons given for why businesses are often reluctant to spend more on development to reduce future maintenance costs? Select all that apply.

Most businesses have unlimited budgets and therefore choose not to think about long-term costs at all

Long-term maintainability savings are always larger than short-term development cost increases and easy to measure precisely

Managers are incentivized around quarterly or annual spending plans, so short-term cost increases are visible but long-term gains are unmeasurable at the same time

Developers are usually not responsible for maintaining the systems they build, so they see no personal benefit from extra effort

Correct Answer

(1) Managers are incentivized around quarterly or annual spending plans, so short-term cost increases are visible but long-term gains are unmeasurable at the same time

(2) Developers are usually not responsible for maintaining the systems they build, so they see no personal benefit from extra effort

Explanation

The two main reasons are: (1) managers focus on quarterly/annual budgets where investing in maintainability is a visible short-term cost, while long-term benefits are not measurable at the same time; and (2) developers typically do not maintain what they build, so they have no personal incentive to invest extra effort in maintainability.

Reference

Software Engineering, Ian Sommerville, 10th edition

Quizzes you can take where this question appears

Why Maintenance Costs More Than New Development