diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 394c91d41..5d2946499 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -71,6 +71,8 @@
         <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
         <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
         <distribution.format>zip</distribution.format>
+        <version.jackson>2.3.0</version.jackson>
+        <version.slf4j>1.7.5</version.slf4j>
     </properties>
 
     <dependencies>
@@ -85,28 +87,28 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
             <artifactId>jackson-core</artifactId>
-            <version>2.2.3</version>
+            <version>${version.jackson}</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
             <artifactId>jackson-annotations</artifactId>
-            <version>2.2.3</version>
+            <version>${version.jackson}</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId>
             <artifactId>jackson-databind</artifactId>
-            <version>2.2.3</version>
+            <version>${version.jackson}</version>
         </dependency>
         <!--LOGGING-->
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
             <artifactId>slf4j-api</artifactId>
-            <version>1.7.5</version>
+            <version>${version.slf4j}</version>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
             <artifactId>slf4j-jdk14</artifactId>
-            <version>1.7.5</version>
+            <version>${version.slf4j}</version>
             <scope>test</scope>
         </dependency>
         <!--COMMON HTTP TOOLS-->
@@ -174,7 +176,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>2.14.1</version>
+                <version>2.16</version>
                 <configuration>
                     <!-- To skip tests by default -->
                     <skipTests>${skipTests}</skipTests>
@@ -233,7 +235,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
                 <artifactId>versions-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>2.0</version>
+                <version>2.1</version>
             </plugin>
 
             <plugin>
@@ -277,7 +279,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-deploy-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>2.7</version>
+                <version>2.8.1</version>
             </plugin>
 
             <plugin>
@@ -289,7 +291,7 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-install-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>2.4</version>
+                <version>2.5.1</version>
             </plugin>
 
             <plugin>