Maintainability is always a problem

I was reading about the train breakdown at NEL when it struck me that few actually worry about the maintainability of things that they build. IT projects especially have this problem due to people thinking that software can be customised to do anything.

Let me explain... Software can be customised, and if your software is bespoke and designed correctly, customising the software should not be a problem, assuming of course that you have a decent IT team. The problem comes when your software is a product, and it has a defined framework where the software can be customised. Many users do not seem to understand that the framework exists for a reason, and push vendors to customise it beyond what it is capable of.

Software products have a defined framework for a reason as products usually have roadmaps that may result in additional features being introduced throughout the lifetime of that product. Furthermore, there may be security patches or bug fixing patches to the product.

If you have customised the product beyond the defined framework, it is likely that the patches or additional features introduced will cause problems to the software.

Software vendors who know this will refuse to customise it beyond the framework to ensure the software is maintainable throughout the lifespan of the product. Those who don't, will please the customer, but cause the project many problems throughout the lifespan of the product, and jacking up the cost beyond the initial budget.

So who cause this problem where something becomes difficult to maintain? One should always focus on the objective, and not on the looks unless it is critical to your objective.