November 10, 2008, 5:59 AM — 10 Key Considerations when Outsourcing QA and Testing Services
Outsourcing is a strategic management option, which aims at companies achieve their business objectives through operational excellence. And one such aspect of this is, QA and testing, which provides many benefits to companies who seek to improve the quality of their production applications, reduce business risk through rigorous testing and augment and improve upon the incumbent testing teams and processes. Given the increase in global IT outsourcing agreements, many companies will be looking at outsourcing QA and testing as an independent validation and acceptance phase in order to ensure high quality deliverables and gain competitive advantages.
To achieve these benefits, organizations select an outsourcing partner who will typically have local and offshore test centers and capabilities as well as a strong onsite consultancy presence. While doing so, the companies should follow the major considerations; the first in the list is the Engagement Model, a crucial aspect of developing the outsourcing plan. The process involves factors like aspects of international business, strategy, selecting the geographical location, understanding the landscape, deciding on the outsourcing strategy and so on. Service Level Agreement is the next to be followed. They should detail the minimum level of service to be provided by the outsourcing vendor. They should be objective and measurable and have no ambiguity. This helps both parties in the long term. The third important consideration is Mobilization, a phase which includes setting up communication protocol with the client, defining work breakdown structure, sharing standard templates (used for authoring test cases, reporting project status, presenting the key metrics etc.) with the client, building test strategy etc. Integration with all the parties (client, testing vendor and development vendor), seamless communication between the client and their stakeholders, flexible and scalable approach,
When opting for outsourcing QA and testing engagements companies face certain success factors like:
Ensuring that the business objectives agreed at the outset of the contract or business case are managed through to successful completion
Ensuring that transition from the “testing today†to “tomorrow’s testing†is seamless in terms of business impact and employee satisfaction
Noticeable and continuous improvements in the approach and methods used within your IT organization (not just testing)
While organizations derive value from outsourcing software development, outsourced software testing will maximize returns from their investments and provide the right level of objectivity and rigor required to create a high quality product. If an independent QA and testing service provider is chosen whose focus is on ensuring quality products/systems are implemented, benefits will be fully maximized.
