A produção dos sentidos atribuídos à manutenção de software segundo a teoria das representações sociais

Abstract

Software Maintenance activities consumes much of a system costs, absorb many Information Technology professionals, and mean a solution for the implementation of business strategies. At the same time, studies show a negative image associated with maintenance, pointing it as an activity of little responsibility, little prestige and low status within organizations. So, although it seems a necessary and extremely important activity, in practice, Software Maintenance is seen as a problem, which causes some concern about the origins and the permanence of such significance. Seeking to understand how and why are the meanings attributed to Software Maintenance, this study investigated the process by which those meanings are created and become permanent in common sense. Through focus groups, were interviewed Information Technology professionals of a Brazil s Federal Court organization. The research data were subjected to a qualitative analysis, based on The Social Representation Theory, whose interpretations were done with the technique of Content Analysis. The results showed that the criticality and the urgency with which the maintenance activities are treated make its image objectificated itself on error correction and problem senses, which are posted among other elements of their representation. It was also found that both the systems technologies, as the learning attributed to the maintenance activities; anchor the maintainer devalued for the market, as well as the Software Maintenance as an activity for professionals in early-stage or with no opportunities for professional growth