You can fix a problem before it causes damage, or you can fix it after. Preventive maintenance addresses issues before they become problems. Corrective maintenance fixes problems after they occur. The same issue handled preventively costs less, causes less disruption, and produces better outcomes - yet teams often default to corrective maintenance anyway.
Understanding why preventive maintenance is generally better, why teams still rely on corrective, and how to shift the balance can transform how your team manages code health.
Corrective Maintenance: Fix After Failure
Corrective maintenance responds to problems that have already occurred.
How Corrective Maintenance Works
Problems trigger fixes:
Corrective workflow:
1. Problem occurs (bug, outage, incident)
2. Problem is detected
3. Problem is diagnosed
4. Fix is developed
5. Fix is deployed
6. Normal operation resumes
The problem drives the work.
Common Patterns
Bug Fixes
Fix bugs when users report them:
Corrective pattern:
- User reports bug
- Developer investigates
- Fix created
- Fix deployed
User impact triggers action.
Incident Response
Fix failures when they occur:
Corrective pattern:
- Service goes down
- On-call responds
- Root cause found
- Fix applied
Failure triggers response.
Reactive Updates
Update when forced:
Corrective pattern:
- Security vulnerability exploited
- Emergency patch applied
- Scramble to recover
Forced action when ignoring is impossible.
Strengths of Corrective Maintenance
Certain ROI
Only fix real problems:
Corrective strength:
- Problem definitely exists
- Fix definitely needed
- No wasted effort on hypotheticals
Certainty that work is necessary.
Lower Upfront Investment
Don't invest until needed:
Corrective strength:
- No prevention infrastructure
- No scanning overhead
- No false positives to manage
Minimal ongoing investment.
Simple Prioritization
Urgent problems are obvious:
Corrective strength:
- Production down = fix now
- User complaining = fix now
- Priority is clear
Urgency clarifies priority.
Weaknesses of Corrective Maintenance
Higher Total Cost
Fixing after failure costs more:
Corrective weakness:
Bug in development: $100 to fix
Bug in production: $10,000+ to fix
Includes:
- Diagnosis time
- Emergency response
- User impact
- Reputation damage
Later fixes are more expensive.
User Impact
Problems affect users first:
Corrective weakness:
- Users experience the bug
- Users hit the outage
- Users lose trust
Corrective means users suffer.
Unpredictable
Problems occur unpredictably:
Corrective weakness:
- Weekend incidents
- Holiday outages
- Worst possible timing
Can't plan for problems you don't know about.
Stressful
Emergency response is hard:
Corrective weakness:
- High-pressure debugging
- Time pressure
- Blame culture risk
- Burnout
Constant firefighting isn't sustainable.
Preventive Maintenance: Fix Before Failure
Preventive maintenance addresses issues before they cause problems.
How Preventive Maintenance Works
Proactive identification and resolution:
@devonair preventive workflow:
1. Potential issue detected
2. Risk evaluated
3. Fix developed proactively
4. Fix deployed before impact
5. Problem never occurs
Prevention drives the work.
Common Patterns
Regular Scanning
Find issues before they hurt:
@devonair preventive scanning:
- Continuous security scanning
- Code quality analysis
- Dependency monitoring
Detection before impact.
Proactive Updates
Update before forced:
@devonair proactive updates:
- Regular dependency updates
- Platform upgrades on schedule
- Security patches promptly
Update on your schedule, not in crisis.
Quality Gates
Prevent issues from shipping:
@devonair quality gates:
- Block low-quality PRs
- Require tests
- Require security check
Prevention at development time.
Strengths of Preventive Maintenance
Lower Total Cost
Fixing before failure costs less:
@devonair preventive strength:
- Smaller problems are cheaper
- No emergency overhead
- No user impact cost
- Planned work is efficient
Earlier is cheaper.
No User Impact
Problems fixed before users notice:
@devonair preventive strength:
- Users never see the bug
- No downtime experienced
- Trust maintained
Prevention protects users.
Predictable
Maintenance on your schedule:
@devonair preventive strength:
- Plan maintenance windows
- Allocate resources predictably
- No surprise emergencies
Control over timing.
Sustainable
Planned work is manageable:
@devonair preventive strength:
- No frantic debugging
- Normal working hours
- Sustainable pace
Prevention is calmer.
Weaknesses of Preventive Maintenance
Upfront Investment
Prevention requires infrastructure:
Preventive weakness:
- Scanning tools needed
- Monitoring needed
- Process needed
- Upfront cost
Prevention isn't free.
False Positives
Not all potential issues are real:
Preventive weakness:
- Some detected issues won't cause problems
- Effort on non-issues
- Signal vs noise
Some prevention effort is wasted.
Harder Justification
Prevented problems are invisible:
Preventive weakness:
- "What did we prevent?"
- Hard to prove value
- Intangible benefits
Success is the absence of failure.
Requires Discipline
Prevention is easy to defer:
Preventive weakness:
- Features seem more urgent
- Prevention can wait
- Slips without discipline
Prevention requires consistent commitment.
Comparing the Approaches
Direct comparison across key dimensions.
Cost
| Factor | Corrective | Preventive | |--------|------------|------------| | Per-issue cost | High | Low | | Upfront investment | Low | Medium | | Emergency cost | High | Low | | Total cost | Higher | Lower |
Preventive has higher upfront, lower total cost.
Impact
| Factor | Corrective | Preventive | |--------|------------|------------| | User impact | Yes | No | | Downtime | Possible | Avoided | | Reputation | Risk | Protected | | Trust | Damaged | Maintained |
Preventive protects users and reputation.
Work Experience
| Factor | Corrective | Preventive | |--------|------------|------------| | Stress | High | Lower | | Predictability | Low | High | | Sustainability | Poor | Good | | Job satisfaction | Variable | Better |
Preventive creates better work experience.
Planning
| Factor | Corrective | Preventive | |--------|------------|------------| | Schedule control | None | High | | Resource planning | Difficult | Easy | | Capacity prediction | Impossible | Possible |
Preventive enables planning.
The Economic Argument
Prevention is economically superior.
The 1-10-100 Rule
Cost multiplier at each stage:
Issue caught in development: $1
Issue caught in testing: $10
Issue caught in production: $100
Issue after incident: $1000+
Each stage multiplies cost.
Compound Prevention Value
Prevention prevents cascades:
@devonair prevention value:
- One vulnerability patched = multiple exploits prevented
- One bug fixed = multiple user complaints prevented
- One update applied = multiple issues prevented
Prevention has multiplicative value.
Hidden Corrective Costs
Corrective costs include:
Often missed costs:
- Opportunity cost of emergency response
- Trust/reputation damage
- Customer churn from bad experience
- Team burnout and turnover
Corrective costs are often underestimated.
Building a Prevention-First Strategy
Shift toward preventive maintenance.
Detect Early
Find issues when they're small:
@devonair early detection:
- Continuous scanning
- Development-time checks
- Pre-merge validation
Early detection enables early prevention.
Make Prevention Easy
Lower the friction of prevention:
@devonair easy prevention:
- Automated fixes
- One-click remediation
- Clear guidance
Easy prevention happens.
Track Prevention Value
Show what prevention provides:
@devonair track value:
- Issues caught before production
- Vulnerabilities patched before exploit
- Bugs fixed before user impact
Visible value sustains investment.
Maintain Corrective Capability
Prevention doesn't eliminate all correction:
Still needed:
- Incident response capability
- Debugging skills
- Recovery procedures
Some correction will always be needed.
Getting Started
Build prevention into your workflow.
Assess current balance:
@devonair assess:
- How much is preventive?
- How much is corrective?
- What's the cost of each?
Enable prevention:
@devonair enable prevention:
- Scanning and detection
- Quality gates
- Proactive updates
Shift resources:
@devonair shift resources:
- From reactive to proactive
- From firefighting to prevention
- Gradually, sustainably
Measure results:
@devonair measure:
- Incident frequency
- User-found vs team-found issues
- Corrective vs preventive ratio
Preventive maintenance isn't just better in theory - it's better in practice. Teams that invest in prevention experience fewer emergencies, lower costs, happier users, and more sustainable work. The shift from corrective to preventive is one of the highest-value changes a team can make.
FAQ
How do I justify prevention when problems haven't occurred yet?
Track metrics over time. Show the cost of past incidents. Calculate the cost of potential incidents using industry data. Frame prevention as insurance with measurable ROI.
Won't we always need some corrective maintenance?
Yes. Prevention reduces but doesn't eliminate problems. Maintain corrective capability for issues that slip through prevention. The goal is shifting the balance, not achieving perfection.
How do I get started if we're stuck in corrective mode?
Start small. After each incident, invest a little in preventing recurrence. Establish basic scanning. Build prevention incrementally while still handling corrections. The ratio will shift over time.
What percentage should be preventive vs corrective?
World-class teams are 80%+ preventive. Struggling teams are 80%+ corrective. Target 60-70% preventive as an initial goal, with improvement over time.