Choosing to Outsource QA
Outsourcing QA is growing in popularity these days. This is down to several factors, one them being the current economic climate. As many software development companies are forced to reduce their size to save money, often it’s the testers that are the first to go. Often, after such resizing has taken effect a company will find it’s self in the position of not having enough test expertise to complete a project. This issue is sometimes temporarily rectified by brining in contractors to do the job. Unfortunately, using contractors has its own set of complications such as; going through the hiring process, knowing how long a contract should be granted for, ramp-up time for contractors to learn appropriate product and technical knowledge. This is where outsourced software testing really shines!
By outsourcing a companies software testing to a professional outsourced QA company, all of the issues that come with using contractors can be avoided. There is no hiring process, as the outsourced QA company has already done that. You will have a quote for work and and would have discussed a time-frame which the outsourced QA company would agree to in advance. The testers used from a reputable outsourced QA company will be highly experienced and versatile and be used to ramping-up on product details at a fast pace.
A question that is often asked is; how does outsourcing compare to hiring contractors to do the job. Often (and surprising to some), it works out cheaper to outsource than to hire. This is down to the additional man-hours involved in hiring a contractor and bringing up to a level where they can be of benefit. Also, a company rarely pays a contractor directly, they have to pay the contractor’s agency a fee, sometimes a very large fee. With outsourcing, you work out the costs involved way in advance. This can be a fixed fee or an hourly rate. Essentially, you are paying just for the testing and not wasting money on additional man-hours or agency fees.
