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Website & Application Maintenance Services — New Zealand and Australia

Your website and applications do not stop needing attention after launch. Smahh keeps them updated, secure, and running at full performance — so your team does not have to.

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What happens when maintenance is nobody's job

The launch-and-forget pattern is a common pitfall: most businesses launch a website or application and then turn their attention back to the product. Six months later the CMS is three versions behind, a critical plugin has a known vulnerability, and nobody noticed. The site still looks the same, but the risk has grown silently.

The accumulation of technical debt is inevitable without regular care: every unpatched dependency, every skipped database optimisation, every unreviewed error log is debt that compounds. A single unpatched vulnerability in a WordPress plugin was responsible for one of the most widespread website compromises in the ANZ region in recent years. Maintenance is not optional — it is continuous risk management.

The hidden cost of reactive fixes cannot be understated: emergency fixes cost far more than scheduled maintenance. A site going down during a product launch, a campaign, or a peak trading period costs real money. Proactive maintenance prevents those events.

Smahh's approach is different: we treat maintenance as ongoing infrastructure management, not a support ticket queue. Our maintenance clients get scheduled work, proactive monitoring, and a team that already knows their codebase — so when something does need urgent attention, response time is measured in minutes, not days.

What our maintenance covers

Security patches and dependency updates

Every application has a dependency tree — frameworks, libraries, plugins, and packages that receive security updates from their maintainers. Smahh monitors these dependencies and applies updates on a scheduled basis, testing in a staging environment before touching production. Critical security patches are applied outside the normal schedule with priority turnaround. This is the single most effective thing a business can do to reduce breach risk after launch.

Performance monitoring and optimisation

Continuous monitoring of page load times, API response times, database query performance, and server resource utilisation. Smahh uses uptime monitoring, real-user monitoring (RUM), and synthetic testing to detect degradation before users do. Monthly performance reports with benchmarks. When performance drops, we investigate root cause and fix it — not just restart the server.

Uptime monitoring and incident response

24/7 automated uptime monitoring across all monitored services. Alert thresholds configured for your business hours and criticality level. When an outage occurs, Smahh receives the alert, investigates, and either resolves directly (for maintenance clients with resolution included) or escalates to your team with a clear incident summary. Post-incident review included for every significant outage.

Content updates and feature changes

For businesses that do not have an internal developer, Smahh handles content updates — copy changes, image updates, new landing pages, form additions. Minor feature changes (adding a field to a form, updating a pricing table, changing navigation items) are scoped and delivered within the agreed monthly work allocation.

Database backups and disaster recovery

Scheduled automated backups with tested restore procedures. Smahh verifies backups are restorable — not just created. Disaster recovery runbooks maintained and updated when the application changes. For high-criticality applications, point-in-time recovery is configured so data loss is measured in seconds, not hours.

Compliance and audit support

Keeping applications compliant with the NZ Privacy Act 2020, Australian Privacy Act 1988, and any industry-specific requirements (PCI DSS for payments, HIPAA-equivalent for health data). Smahh tracks compliance obligations as part of the maintenance remit and flags when an application change requires a compliance review.

Why work with Smahh

Security is the priority

Smahh began as a cybersecurity consultancy. Security patches are not deferred to a convenient sprint — they are treated as the highest priority item in every maintenance cycle. Your application's attack surface is actively monitored, not passively observed.

We know your codebase

Smahh maintenance clients do not explain their system to a different support technician each time. The same engineers who know your application handle your maintenance. Context is not lost between tickets.

Transparent reporting

Every maintenance client receives a monthly report covering: work completed, security updates applied, performance metrics, uptime statistics, and recommendations for the following month. No black box — you see exactly what we did and why.

How we work

Step 01

Onboarding audit

Smahh reviews the application, documents the stack, reviews existing security posture, and sets up monitoring.

Step 02

Maintenance schedule

Agree on update cadence, work allocation, and escalation contacts.

Step 03

Ongoing monthly cycle

Scheduled maintenance window, updates applied, tested, verified.

Step 04

Monthly report

Written summary delivered to your nominated contact.

Step 05

Reactive response

When something breaks or an urgent patch is needed, the existing team context means resolution is fast.

Results we've delivered

99.8%average uptime across maintained applications
<24hcritical security patches applied within hours
100%monthly reports delivered every 30 days without exception

* Results vary by starting point and engagement scope.

Maintenance plans for New Zealand and Australian businesses

All plans are month-to-month. No lock-in contracts. Cancel with 30 days notice.

Essential

NZD 299/month

Small business websites, brochure sites, static or low-complexity applications

Next business day
  • Security patches and dependency updates (monthly)
  • Uptime monitoring (24/7 automated)
  • Monthly backup verification
  • 2 hours content or minor updates per month
  • Monthly written report

Not included: Performance optimisation, feature development, outside-hours response

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Most popular

Growth

NZD 699/month

Business websites, Next.js or WordPress sites with active content, early-stage web applications

4 business hours
  • Everything in Essential
  • Performance monitoring and monthly benchmarks
  • 5 hours content and minor feature updates per month
  • Quarterly security scan and report
  • Priority response during business hours

Not included: Outside-hours response

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Business

NZD 1,499/month

Web applications, SaaS products, APIs, e-commerce platforms

1 hour during business hours
  • Everything in Growth
  • Dedicated engineer who knows your codebase
  • 10 hours development per month (features, fixes, integrations)
  • Database optimisation and performance tuning
  • Compliance monitoring (Privacy Act 2020, AU Privacy Act 1988)
  • Outside-hours incident response for critical issues
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Custom enterprise plans available for large-scale or multi-application environments.

Contact us to discuss

Frequently asked questions

Yes — most maintenance clients come to Smahh with an existing application built by a previous agency or internal team. The engagement starts with an onboarding audit where we document the stack, assess the current security and performance posture, and agree on what the maintenance remit covers. There is no requirement to have built the application with Smahh.

The work allocation covers content updates, minor feature changes, configuration adjustments, and any additional work beyond the standard maintenance tasks. Larger feature additions or new page builds are quoted separately and fall outside the allocation. If work in a given month is below the allocation, unused hours do not roll over — the allocation is a monthly commitment, not a bank.

Growth and Business plan clients receive an emergency contact process. Critical issues (site down, data breach, security incident) are responded to outside business hours under the incident response terms agreed at onboarding. Essential plan clients receive next-business-day response for all issues including critical ones — businesses requiring outside-hours coverage should select Growth or Business.

WordPress, Next.js, React, Python (FastAPI, Django), Node.js, and most custom-built applications. If you have a platform not listed, discuss with the team at onboarding — if it is a common framework, Smahh can likely maintain it. Platforms requiring vendor-specific certification (Salesforce, ServiceNow) are outside scope.

Yes — all plans are on a rolling monthly basis. One month's notice to cancel. No lock-in periods. Smahh does not require annual contracts for maintenance services.

All code, access credentials, documentation, and configuration files are returned to you upon cancellation. Smahh does not retain work product or withhold handover. Any work in progress at cancellation is completed to the agreed spec or invoiced pro-rata at the discretion of both parties.

Ready for stress-free maintenance?

Let us handle the updates and security so you can focus on your business.

Talk to our team