The digital industry is gradually moving away from the traditional software development and support method. To be more precise, it divides critical services, focusing certain operations within the responsibility of different teams. That is, companies outsource some tasks to external contractors.
This applies even to market giants. For example, HP (Hewlett Packard) is currently engaged only in the engineering, designing manual testing, and producing PCs, laptops, monitors, etc. Software development, customer support, and additional IT services (including outsource software testing) are performed by contractors.
This is a great practice that allows you to focus on key business tasks and outsource routine tasks. Software development and QA are no exceptions to the rule. Why should you distribute your efforts on both processes simultaneously if you can hire a QA team of engineers and entrust the testing process to them?
Zapple Tech experts talk about the benefits of outsource software testing, the nuances of QA, and its impact on the success of a digital product.
Table of Contents
Why Is QA So Important for Your Development?
According to GMI research, the QA industry is gaining popularity among software developers worldwide. The estimated value of the segment exceeded $45 billion in 2022 and will double within a decade. A stable CAGR of 5% shows that various testing tools and services are necessary for the IT industry, and their value for development teams is growing.
QA processes are the pillar for:
- viability of the digital product;
- popularity of the solution among the target audience;
- profitability indicators, etc.
Even if you don’t take outsource software testing services into account, basic quality assurance can significantly improve IT solutions. Moreover, QA service is more important than development in terms of business value, as it directly affects its quality, and not only.
- If a company ignores testing, it risks losing a potential target audience at the time of the release of the first version of the IT solution. And there are at least three reasons for this.
Survivability on the market
The viability of a digital product in the target market depends on various factors. These are:
- technical condition of the IT solution;
- the value of the software for the audience;
- idea originality;
- innovation of the app content;
- market saturation with similar products;
- UX, design, interface adaptability, etc.
Everything that concerns the quality of the product as a whole. While niche analytics and general evaluation are usually performed by developers and marketers, the full quality testing of the product depends on the outsource software testing team.
QA affects the viability of a project from the first stages of its development. Moreover, the entire life cycle of an IT solution is closely related to QA and security testing. Therefore, it is essential not to ignore it but to involve testing specialists in the project as early as possible.
Technical condition
The technical condition of a product is primarily its performance. This usually includes:
- correct operation of the built-in functions;
- processing of commands and input data;
- interaction with the API of the IT solution;
- relevance of the information provided;
- synchronization with the server;
- correct operation of the database, etc.
That is, everything related to direct functionality and technical mechanics. If the state of an IT solution is unsatisfactory, e.g., it does not fulfill its direct functions, then neither cutting-edge design nor innovation will save it.
If you want to ensure the proper quality of performance testing your product, you should hire an outsource software testing team. Thus, you can fix functional errors quickly and deploy a fully working MVP.
UX
The size of the audience that will use the digital product depends on how user-friendly the software is. UX is influenced by a number of factors:
- adaptability of the design;
- graphics elements display;
- delays when changing screens;
- stability of the connection to the server;
- logic of navigation through software and controls;
- speed of work, stress resistance, etc.
In other words, all factors that contribute to user satisfaction. This is especially true for the mobile application segment, where usability comes to the fore.
That is why it is essential to entrust the process of outsource software testing to industry professionals. They will help you evaluate the performance and usability in typical and unusual situations.
Internal Quality Control: High Cost of Resources and Low Productivity. Why Can This Testing Method Kill Your Project?
If your company develops enterprise solutions, games, mobile apps, etc., you can imagine the enormous amount of daily work:
- writing code;
- adapting or simply creating graphics;
- building an architecture;
- optimizing technical elements;
- ongoing testing of all components.
Or do you also comprehensively test your digital products yourself?
Most likely not. Although, if your staff allows it, you are quite capable of conducting basic testing of your IT solutions. But can your team cover all the QA needs, meeting the deadline and not making compromises?
There are some drawbacks to in-house software testing outsourcing companies that can turn your ambitious project into a real problem. It is recommended to hire outsource software testing teams. This way, you can mitigate reputational and financial risks and prevent 90% of potential causes of project failure.
Lack of knowledge and skills
There is no doubt that only highly skilled professionals work in development companies. However, their skills and abilities are limited to a specific area of activity. For example, creating functional code, architecture, etc. But they simply lack experience in comprehensive and functional testing of the same component.
This lack of knowledge of the QA segment leads to the following:
- low pass rate;
- poor test automation;
- low performance;
- poor bug localization;
- incorrect assessment of the product quality.
Accordingly, this turns into problems with the IT solution implementation, which you can prevent with an outsource software testing team.
Longer software status check process
A product launched on time increases business competitiveness. Even if software development is going smoothly, a project risks failing without adequate QA. If the team tries to cover all the needs, i.e., develop and test on their own, they usually fail to meet the deadlines.
Or they ignore the state of the product, speeding up the software release.
Accordingly, in both cases, we have a negative impact on the perception of the product by the audience. Thus, we recommend dividing the tasks: develop software on your own and outsource software testing to contractors.
Reduced QA quality
Without special skills and experience in the QA industry, it isn’t easy to ensure the good quality of an IT product. Usually, it’s impossible to do it on your own. All because you need to focus on several processes at once:
- development;
- testing;
- test automation;
- validation of results;
- management.
Accordingly, this combination of operations reduces overall productivity and negatively affects the product’s quality. In addition, it extends the timeframe for implementing an IT solution, causing additional risks for the MVP.
Therefore, the best option is to delegate outsource software testing to specialized teams.
Why Is It Better to Delegate Project Testing to Experts?
Every process requires expertise from its performers. As for QA, in addition to skills or knowledge, you also need experience, which you gain through years of hard work on finding and fixing bugs. Especially if you need to automate and optimize all related operations.
This is the key advantage of test automation outsourcing software testing services from Zapple Tech. By delegating the project to experts, you, as a developer, can focus directly on the software creation without worrying about QA.
Perhaps this is the most important benefit of outsource software testing for IT companies. But not the last one.
Access to the best experts in the industry
As a software developer, you need to understand how many possible tech stacks there are for creating apps. Each requires an individual approach and organization of QA processes. This is exactly what outsource software testing teams do.
Outsourced QA outsourcing allows IT companies to find specialists with experience in a particular type of testing. Such contractors can easily automate the testing of any software, regardless of the tech stack, project scale, etc.
Unloading staff resources
Modern IT companies, on average, have a staff of 10 to 100 specialists in various fields. It is clear that they form teams responsible for their own projects. However, part of the resources is dedicated to testing. Imagine that it is possible to involve them in development. Will it affect productivity?
With outsource software testing, you can focus your development team’s efforts directly on crucial processes. This will reduce the product development time and the risk of missing critical bugs in the MVP test documentation.
Quick execution of set tasks
Usually, when testing in-house, the quality assurance goes beyond the scope of normal operations (development). After each stage, you have to go back to checking the software to include the identified problems in the list of tasks.
Thanks to outsource software testing, you can focus your efforts on development without being distracted by quality assurance. Testing will be conducted in parallel without interrupting the main development process. Thanks to the synchronization of operations, the development team will receive reports as soon as bugs are discovered. Therefore, their correction will be included in the current stages, which will significantly save development time.
Saving money
If you think that hiring outsourced software testing specialists is just a costly endeavor, you’re wrong. A digital product without proper QA is much more expensive because it creates numerous problems:
- low quality of the IT solution;
- insufficient performance, adaptability;
- errors in navigation, functions, and graphics;
- non-compliance with business logic;
- bugs in the MVP.
Each of these problems leads to additional costs for bug fixes, software upgrades, and losses caused by customer outflow.
Product quality improvement
Thanks to outsource software testing, you will secure a bright future for your development in the target market. With the right bug-finding automation testing and bug-fixing service, your digital product will:
- excellent quality;
- competitiveness;
- support throughout the entire life cycle;
- optimized UX;
- proper performance and reliability.
This will help position the IT solution as the best of the best and monetize it.
Wide geography of recruitment of performers
The cost and quality of outsource software testing differ depending on the region of registration of outsourcing company and the QA company. Therefore, you can always find a middle ground for yourself.
For example, if you work in the US or Western Europe, hiring QA specialists in Eastern Europe, such as Poland or Ukraine, will be more profitable. You will save money and receive high-quality services and a high level of communication with contractors.
How to Choose a Partner for QA?
Finding and hiring the best outsource software testing team is one of the most difficult tasks. The fact is that specialized resources advertise a large number of outsourcing companies without confirming their qualifications.
Even if the expertise is verified, there may be a problem with the project budget, communication, skills mismatch, etc. That’s why Zapple Tech specialists have prepared a short guide for you on hiring QA contractors.
The type of processes to be performed
The larger the project, the more services you need from outsource software testing specialists. It is about test automation tools, process planning, and communication with developers. In this case, you need leading companies like Zapple Tech.
Team reputation
If you don’t trust the portfolio or descriptions of an outsource software testing company, you can always use proven services to verify the expertise:
You’ll get comprehensive, reliable information about the skills and experience of the company that provides comprehensive QA services.
Work methods, adaptability, tools
If you have picked your favorites and are ready to outsource software testing, it’s time to find out if they fit your project 100%. You should talk to the company’s manager and describe the features of the future product. If the team representative confirms their readiness to work on the project, proceed to discuss the nuances of cooperation. These include:
- methodologies;
- tools and testing types;
- QA (automated, manual);
- budget limits;
- deadlines.
Once the details of testing outsourcing are finalized, you will have to go through several bureaucratic procedures, such as signing a contract, NDA, etc. After that, the outsource software testing team joins your project.
How to Effectively Manage the QA Process in Contracting Organizations: 3 Best Methods
To manage contractors well, personalize collaboration strategy. As a rule, it includes planning, synchronization of processes, and periodic reporting. This will help you effectively establish interaction with outsource software testing specialists and improve QA results.
Plan cooperation
Think about deadlines that would suit both the development team and contractors. Set KPI metrics to track overall performance. This will allow you to use the outsource software testing team’s resources more efficiently and ensure that the deadlines and quality of the digital product release are met.
Use collaboration tools
Synchronize the work of all teams using solutions such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, etc. Such tools will help you keep track of all current processes, active and completed tasks in detail. As a result, the efficiency of software testing outsourcing and cooperation with outsource software testing contractors will improve.
Improve communication
Define representatives of all teams who will keep in touch with each other. This way, you can prevent conflicts and establish a process of sharing the project vision. It will also allow you to use the resources of the outsource software testing contractor more efficiently to achieve your goals.
Bottom Line
The success of your digital product is directly impacted by the quality of the QA services used to test it. Full coverage of outsource software testing project needs guarantees maximum quality at the MVP stage.
Do you want to release a bug-free digital product that works perfectly on all devices? Use Zapple Tech’s years of experience in outsource software testing to ensure that your IT solution works perfectly.
Deliver high-quality software to gain a competitive advantage and show commitment to your audience!
