Outsourcing isn’t a bad word: how your business can benefit from third-party QA

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Does your business need third-party quality assurance?

If you have an internal QA team, this may be rhetorical – but it’s a question that still needs to be asked.

In the past, outsourcing was merely a technique to cut costs. Recently, however, it’s become an effective strategy. The overall goal of outsourcing is to achieve better business objectives. Using a third-party testing team is the perfect answer to companies seeking to improve the quality of their applications, reduce business overhead, and improve upon current testing processes.

Regardless if you have in-house testers.

Imagine this scenario: as your team of developers and testers continue working on a particular app, the project becomes more complex than originally planned. With the limited budget, overworked staff, and a deadline that’s fast approaching, a third-party test lab may very well be your answer.

But this isn’t the only benefit of involving a quality assurance partner.

Access to new resources

Unless you’re the likes of Google, it’s fair to assume you don’t have access to every smartphone on the market. Let alone that’s ever been made. Nor do you know the most popular devices by country. However, a good third-party test lab will know this information with access to most, if not all, of them.

Additionally, there are likely to be testing tools that a third-party partner has that your team doesn’t. Access to these resources opens the door to higher quality software and a more efficient process for your team.

Related: How many mobile device and OS combinations should you test?

More free time for engineers

When you’re under pressure to hit a project deadline, chances are you’re going to be excessively busy ensuring that the project is completed on time. It’s this kind of pressure that results in lower quality products and missed steps.

If you don’t have an internal QA team and testing is being done by your development or IT teams, outsourcing these tests lets them focus on their actual job duties.

By using an independent testing partner, your team can simultaneously focus on more strategic tasks or new developments. Outsourcing not only enables you to focus on your core competencies but ensures that you meet your deadlines on time –especially when certain testing requires specialized tools or experience.

Lessen in-house competition

It’s in a company’s best interest to keep things copacetic when it comes to development and testing. Unfortunately, human nature and bruised egos can rear their ugly heads when teams are pitted against each other. This is especially true during testing phases when conflicts between QA and developers undoubtedly arise.

The battles and finger-pointing are not good for the project, nor the company overall. As such, hiring a third-party testing company can save your company from any possible clashes and instead encourage your QA and development teams to work together.

Related: What is a development team without QA? 

Maintain objectivity

One of the biggest advantages to outsourcing your software testing is maintaining objectivity. After all, when you’re too familiar with the product, you can miss or overlook its flaws. But a fresh pair of eyes can uncover defects in functionality and identify errors that may otherwise go unnoticed.

Additionally, a third-party that hasn’t been part of the project from inception is unbiased.

And if any major issues emerge that postpone releases, there’s a bit of relief in knowing you have some sort of scapegoat in the form of the test lab. It wouldn’t be the first time the outsourcing resource took the heat.

At the end of the day, an unbiased and prudent approach to software testing is a strategic decision.

Decrease costs

In addition to the direct costs of in-house QA teams, there is also additional operational overhead incurred by managing it. Not to mention a lot of waiting around.

Creating a training program, maintaining up-to-date testing software, and a host of other variables only add to your bottom line – and the downtime associated with them. However, outsourcing your quality testing needs can keep these costs to a minimum.

While it may seem counterintuitive for companies with an internal test team to work with a testing partner, having an additional dedicated team solely devoted to testing can often perform the actions faster and at a lower hourly rate. Companies can achieve scale at reduced costs.

Furthermore, having additional eyes on the project leads to better chances of finding bugs and get them fixed prior to release. As Barry Boehm, professor of computer science and engineering, explains finding errors early costs considerably less than discovering them post-launch.

Accelerate time to market

The speed at which an innovation – product or service – is taken to market defines an organization’s success

While STM (speed to market) is crucial, businesses still struggle to achieve desired product lifecycle management due to talent shortage, complex processes, outdated technology, or data limitations.

Partnering with an outside QA team adds invaluable resources – after all, two heads are better than one.

By adding resources to your internal quality assurance team, there’s an added benefit of working together to identify key issues and streamline procedures in order to work more efficiently.  

External software testing assistance can help speed up your current assignment, and can also accelerate speed to market on new ideas.

Scalability

According to Pierre Audoin Consultants, 91 percent of IT departments consider software testing one of the most important projects.

In order to achieve the testing coverage companies need that is both affordable and fast, it’s imperative the testing process work independently from the development team. However, hiring a full-time QA person can be extremely costly for a company, especially if the project is short in nature. To combat this, departments have turned to outsourcing.

By providing teams with a large, on-demand testing workforce, third-party testing provides a flexible, scalable alternative to traditional QA.

Already have a team on hand? Outsourced teams provide both short and long-term resources. In this case, third-party testers are supplementing in-house teams rather than replacing them; allowing you to scale quickly when workloads fluctuate.

The potential for increasing testing bandwidth makes partner testing a prime solution.

Expertise

There are plenty of quality assurance experts who don’t work for specialized companies. That said, there’s a certain level of expertise that comes from doing nothing but software testing – all day, year after year.

Outsourcing companies have worked with a variety of different applications and testing methods to foster a high degree of specialization. The insight and knowledge gained from this level of experience bring tremendous value to your organization – including shedding new light to your in-house team. Not only do they have the right tools and techniques, but they can also provide guidance and recommendations that last long after the project is over.

Founded by testers, Testlio has years of experience handling quality assurance needs. The company accepts less than three percent of QA applicants, all of whom are well-trained in effective methodologies. In addition to that, Testlio testers are located in more than 40 countries, speak over 65 languages, and work with thousands of devices.

It’s not all give and no take, however. When companies empower internal teams to act as project leads and owners by managing an external partner, in-house teams experience personal growth in the process.  

Partnering for perfection

Outsourcing is a smart, objective business strategy. The advantages of partnering with a trusted third-party testing firm are many. Choosing a testing service provider whose focus is on ensuring quality products and allowing their methods to be implemented, will maximize your return on investment and provide a lasting, quality product.

If you’re ready for real results, schedule a demo today.