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A Guide to Software Testing Outsourcing

The well-being of any software, be it a desktop or mobile app, hinges upon the ability and convenience of its User Interface and Application Programming Interface (API). The software development process must be secure and perform well under a wide range of conditions, requiring extensive testing. 

You have two choices to ensure the best results: self-conduct your manual testing or outsource it. But why should you go through all of the hassle and trouble of software development outsourcing? Outsourcing is becoming increasingly essential to sustain a productive team while ensuring that an app runs optimally.

This article explains the benefits, the most important aspects, and why it is worth considering outsourcing the software testing process.

Why Outsource Software Testing Services?

Before delving deeper into why software testing is outsourced, let's briefly discuss what that entails. This process involves a company entrusting the examination of an application or other piece of software to a separate test specialist, testing institution, or a third-party provider.

If you want to learn more about developing applications using external resources, read our article about third-party app development, and be sure to read it!

The company entrusted with the software development will be separate from those who conduct testing, and any parties involved in software testing will not interact with other stages of the process.

Software testing is typically outsourced to guarantee that the end product meets all requirements of exceptional usability, efficiency, and security. It requires a balanced cocktail of skills from testers knowledgeable with recent technologies and proficiently familiar with testing tools and industry standards.

Pros of Outsourcing Software Testing

Outsourcing software testing can be a game-changer for your organization. Here are some advantages that a good QA team can provide.

Efficiency

Ultimately, outsourcing might be your most advantageous choice. Even when compared to the advantages automated testing provides, it can offer you better techniques and more excellent quality assurance. Test automation tools aren't inexpensive and may miss specific errors that a human tester would have identified.

As an e-commerce company building a mobile app, you may lack the specialized API testing knowledge from your in-house QA engineers. It can impair workflows and generate preliminary test plans. Outsourcing this task to experts in QA testing services familiar with mobile testing will ensure that changes are tested effectively through quick regression tests after each revision.

Cost-effectiveness

You may be hesitant to invest in outsourcing your software testing, but you'll ultimately save precious time and money! After all the hard work that went into creating a piece of software by your development team, they may not possess the necessary skillset for QA testing. Instead of having them spend their valuable time learning how to do this correctly and carry out tests, outsourcing it to good software testing outsourcing companies will solve this issue instantly - freeing up resources while ensuring accuracy.

In the end, the money saved will come in the form of the following:

• Human Resources: You can reduce the costs of hiring a specialized testing team.
• Time: Skilled teams can achieve more in a fraction of the time.
• Other Resources: You don't need to worry about investing in costly data and hardware to maintain high-quality testing.

Quality of Testing

Outsourcing software testing offers many advantages, most notably the multiple tests that can be conducted quickly and cost-effectively. These may involve manual testing (conducted by people) and automation in testing (performed with specialized tools). Even though they differ in approach, each type of test is essential to guarantee your product's success.

Outsourcing testers can complete various forms of testing, including but not limited to the following:

• Performance - These tests push your application to its limits by testing it under all conceivable conditions and scenarios, ensuring that nothing will break when the time comes.
• Security - These tests provide that your software has the highest defense against hackers and other forms of data loss.
• Functional - By running functional testing on your application, you can offer a superior user experience and impeccable performance even under intense pressure. To guarantee the success of your software, it must be put through rigorous test cases that cover both normal and extraordinary scenarios.
• Localization - This testing ensures your product reaches global success by performing optimally in multiple markets.
• Exploratory - These tests allow the testing team to perform any necessary test. Through this exercise, hidden bugs are discovered and exposed in an application.

Cons of Outsourcing Software Testing

Of course, where there are pros, there are cons. Here are some elements of outsourcing software testing that you must pay attention to.

Security

Your number one concern should always be the security of your customers and your data. As part of the testing process, sensitive customer and company information must often be transmitted. Therefore, you must guarantee complete protection from transfer until it returns to you.

The security of your company and customers should be paramount when choosing a service provider. Only the best security measures will suffice to maintain confidentiality and privacy.

Foreign Supplier

When you keep your testing team within the company's walls, it is typically conducted on-site. However, when working with an external provider, your testers can be based anywhere in the world!

Navigating the complexities of data privacy laws and software quality assurance standards can be difficult when journeying across countries. Working with colleagues across different time zones can often lead to communication delays.

Nevertheless, the advantage of choosing experts from all over the world should not be overlooked. By building an international team capable of communicating flawlessly with each other, your product can easily abide by global standards and penetrate foreign markets.

Why You Should Use Outsourced Software Testing

When considering the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing, it's clear there are multiple reasons you should transition to outsourced testing in your DevOps. Outsourcing can benefit your business from specialized skill sets to innovative perspectives.

Your Team's Skills and Resources are Insufficient

It is impossible to expect your team to be experts in all areas, especially during a startup. Collaborating with experienced QA testing services that bring their exceptional skills and resources into the mix would benefit you tremendously. Outsourcing a provider will give you access to an expert team that ensures your software launches without issues. They know all the optimal practices, strategies, and methodologies required for augmentation throughout the QA process.

Third Person View

After being too close to the same project for weeks, noticing any minor faults or deficiencies can be difficult. You know how this task is meant to work and who will use it; outsourcing can provide a unique advantage. With an outside perspective viewing your project, you'll get the benefit of fresh eyes - which may identify something you hadn't seen before!

As the testing team was isolated from the development process, they could quickly identify any missing functionality or usability flaws. Moreover, their expertise in the unpredictability of user behavior allows them to recognize and fix various app issues that may arise.

Tight Deadline

After your DevOps team has dedicated six weeks of hard work to a new CRM application, the testing phase is almost here. You are eager to launch it as quickly as possible, yet find yourself in an unfortunate predicament: Your team is exhausted and unable to test rapidly due to inadequate skills and resources. Postponing the release will garner disappointment from investors who had expected it sooner, so what can you do?

To meet the deadline, leverage an outsourced QA testing service. Outsourced testing services provide swift outcomes while not sacrificing superiority. Benefiting from their knowledge and efficient procedures allows you to receive quality results quickly so that even tight deadlines can be easily met.

Short-Term Project

As previously highlighted, outsourcing QA services is a more cost-effective option for software testing than acquiring the required equipment and resources in-house. It proves especially beneficial on short-term projects where putting together an entire team of dedicated quality assurance professionals wouldn't be practical.

It is the perfect opportunity to turn to outsourced software testing if your team does not possess the technical knowledge required for building an API that links your CRM with customer service. This two-week project will guarantee secure data protection alongside its successful launch without risking any of your company's confidential details.

Proven Strategies for Outsourced Software Testing

Choosing the right service provider to outsource your needs can be daunting. You want someone up-to-date on the best practices and technologies, such as testing technology and agile methodologies. Many independent contractors and organizations offer this type of service, so how do you narrow it down?

Reliability Check

Like how you would never hire a stranger from Craigslist for accounting purposes, you should also shy away from unfamiliar companies regarding software testing. Make sure that the individual or organization is trustworthy and credible. Ask for references if necessary, and analyze their history of accomplishments in terms of quality service achieved with successful outcomes.

Before working with a testing service, it is crucial to analyze their track record for positive results and evaluate their qualifications for your project. Usually, trustworthy testing services provide test documents and supply prospective clients with sample test artifacts.

Consider their test documents, case studies, and references to decide between a few reliable software testing providers for your health application. Let's say you're tasked with choosing between two reputable teams - both of which have achieved excellent results in the past. Yet one provider has more expertise in validating well-known health applications, making them an obvious choice regarding quality assurance. With these evaluations at hand, the decision should be much easier!

Know Your Outsourcing Development Team

A proven outsourced testing company can be highly beneficial, yet a few limitations remain to consider. Before you work with an external team, consider what type of testing your project requires - automation or manual. Furthermore, which tools do you prefer for your tasks versus the ones the potential partner offers? Make sure these align before investing time into any collaboration.

When searching for the perfect QA testing service to complete a sophisticated assignment that necessitates an array of automated and manual tests, you wouldn't assume that one with limited resources can get the job done efficiently. To ensure your software is up-to-date and functioning optimally, it's best to comprehend all available assets and any restrictions so that you may select the best outsourcing solution.

Find The Special One

When constructing an app tailored for a specific industry, look no further than software testing services with experience and expertise. It's important to remember that all software is not created equal. This way, you must find the best team that fits your mission.

With the multitude of options for outsourcing software testing, take the time to select a company that is an ideal fit for your niche. Ensure they have experience with understanding risk factors and timelines about technologies specific to your industry, as well as being capable of testing applications according to related standards and regulations.

Transparency Check

When partnering with any company, transparency, and communication are key. As you give business access to your data, it's essential that you feel secure in the manner they handle such confidential information. If tight deadlines are tight, working with an open team ensures testing progresses as planned. Giving you the peace of mind needed to tackle other tasks at hand.

Set Strong KPIs

Software testing companies cannot reach the peak of their potential if they don't have measurable and achievable goals. To track progress, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are used to measure how efficient and successful the tests are. KPIs are a team tool to continuously improve performance through informed decision-making based on data analysis rather than intuition alone.

Summary

In this present age of accelerated software development, outsourcing testing is an invaluable asset. Testing service providers prioritize the most up-to-date technology and tools to ensure you attain the highest usability, functionality, and performance output quality.

Are you unsure if software testing outsourcing is the ideal choice for your company? Schedule a free consultation with our experts and get all of your questions answered. We are here to help ensure that this solution is perfect for you!