Common Questions Asked When Outsourcing QA

Companies all over the U.S. are choosing to outsource their quality assurance to an offshore company. Even though outsourcing offshore is increasing in popularity, there are some concerns companies have when sending their product to a third-party. 

Is outsourcing offshore more expensive?
A common concern is whether outsourcing to an offshore company will be more expensive than outsourcing to an onshore company. The answer to this is no. Outsourcing QA to an offshore company is financially beneficial. Sending your product to an offshore software testing company, like QASource, is more cost-efficient than outsourcing to an onshore location. The cost of labor in the U.S. is more expensive than in regions commonly outsourced to, like India. This lowered price will help reduce your overall QA cost by at least 50%.

High Quality Software QA Outsourcing Services - QASource

If the cost is reduced, won’t that affect the quality of engineers? 
Another concern is the quality of work will decrease along with the cost of hiring an offshore company. Fortunately, this is not the case for all offshore software testing companies. Some of the common offshore locations have been outsourced to for many years. India, for example, is leading the IT industry and has some of the best infrastructure for engineering fields. In Chandigarh, India-where QASource’s testing facility is located-there are more than 50 schools and 3 Indian Institutes of Technology within 150 miles of the facility. This easy access to universities allows QASource to recruit the best talent possible. All of QASource’s engineers have either a bachelor’s or master’s degree and undergo continual training to ensure each client’s product is of the best possible quality. Not all companies invest in training and career paths of their engineers, but QASource does and that is why they have the highest quality engineers.

Will my product be secure in an offshore facility?
A very important question to ask, especially since you are going to be handing over your product to a third party, is whether or not your product will be secure in this outsourced company. Ask your prospective vendor how they maintain physical and logical security of their client’s products. Does your prospective vendor also have an infrastructure that can help prevent unforeseen delays with your product?

Another way to be sure your product will be secure is to look at your prospective QA partner’s clients. If your potential provider has a 94% client retention rate and has worked with market leaders, like QASource, you’ll know your product is in good hands. 

How can I maintain communication with my offshore team?
Efficient QA companies will have different ways to help ensure you stay in contact with your offshore team. QASource knows how important communication is for a team's success, so QASource has multiple methods of communication available to their clients. Besides email, there's instant messaging services, VOIP phone numbers and video conferencing available to QASource's clients.

If you feel that outsourcing QA is the right option for you and your company, consider partnering with a leader in offshore software testing, QASource. Visit qasource.com to learn more and receive a Free QA consultation.

Finding the True Value in Offshore Quality Assurance

The money saved by outsourcing QA is evidence enough for many software companies -- no need to expand on the lengthy list of benefits. But if you’re still unconvinced, rest assured: the benefits are there and they are a potent form of persuasion.

Offshore Quality Assurance

For us, the true value of partnering with an offshore QA provider is not only about cost savings. It’s about the talent that’ll be joining your on-site team, the cultural emphasis and respect for great QA and the productivity and flexibility it adds to your SDLC.

Let’s break down that list and unpack the real advantage of offshore quality assurance:

The Right Stuff: Culture, Skills & Experience U.S.-based QA engineers are out there, but many are on their way to coding as a career. Culturally, QA is treated like a bridge in the U.S. However, in popular outsourcing destinations like India, QA is highly regarded and sought after as a desirable career path. The IT sector receives generous subsidies from the government and marketing campaigns help aid in the recruitment of the top engineering talent.

Staying the course with QA allows offshore engineers to develop rare, hard-to-find skill sets that are rare nearshore: extensive automation experience, cross-platform skills and much more. Seasoned engineers also gain experience across different domains, consistently working on products in the healthcare, legal, retail and financial space. Rich domain knowledge helps engineers find and fix common problem areas and communicate issues clearly, using specific terminology.

Communication and Team Extension
There is a built-in compromise with offshore quality assurance: you’re far, far away from the team that’s doing your testing. This means no daily stand-up meetings, no quick check-ins between the QA and development teams and no cultural cohesion. Or does it?

Outsourced QA has been around long enough that providers have learned to adapt and become a true extension of the onsite team. The best providers coach engineers to learn the client’s product inside and out -- in some cases, better than the developers that created it! This vigilant approach helps offshore engineers get a clear understanding of the onsite team’s coding process and close the gap between teams.

Thanks to rapidly improving communication technology, teams can attend daily calls to discuss project progress, weekly calls to address any issues and retrospective meetings to discuss what worked and what must be focused on moving forward.

Improved Onsite Productivity
Do you have your developers doing double duty by testing as they code? Or is your in-house team of QA engineers stretched much too thin? These are two approaches that may work for a short time, but are unsustainable in the long run.

With testing in the hands of an offshore team, your team will breathe a sigh of relief and focus on the more direct and pressing needs of your product: new features, effective project management and growth! Outsourcing allows you to redirect resources in a way that best serves your product and unique team structure.

Nobody ever complains about a slashed testing budget. But as we’ve shown here, value is about more than saved costs -- it’s about making a choice that improves all aspects of your software testing approach, from engineer skill-sets to the way your teams communicate.

Why India Is the Best Choice for QA Outsourcing

When nearshore QA providers are too costly and you don’t want to retain onsite test engineers for longer than you really need them, the best option is outsourcing. Today, there are many good providers based in Mexico, China and the UK. But when you need to absolutely sure that you’re getting a team of expert engineers at the right price, look no further than India. Why, you ask? Let’s go over just a few of the many reasons why India is today’s leader in the outsourced QA industry.

It’s built in to the culture
Programming is a sought-after career in the United States, so many talented engineers only use QA as a stepping stone on their way to full-time development. IT has been a huge part of India’s economy for decades and engineers are encouraged to pursue all of the available jobs in the industry, especially QA. For this reason, software testing is seen as a challenging and gratifying career path by many young engineers.
The Indian government has gone to great lengths to support the growth of the IT industry, naming its growth a top five priority and forming the National IT Task Force to help promote the training, certification and employment of students in the tech sector. As you can tell, India has a great competitive edge in QA outsourcing.

Domain expertise & rare skill sets
Being trained specifically for a career in QA helps engineers develop expansive skill sets that may be hard to find in U.S.-based teams. This includes automation expertise, domain knowledge and in-depth experience with the latest software testing tools. Indian teams, especially those at QASource, have access to fully outfitted testing labs containing every imaginable platform and OS configuration. Continuous training programs help Indian engineers keep their skills sharp and applicable.

QASource India Office Chandigarh IT Park

Seamless communication & 24/7 testing
Worried about product details and test strategies getting lost in translation? English fluency is high in India, especially among those working in the IT and QA outsourcing industry. Access to the latest in digital communication (video/phone conferencing tools, email and chat) lets an offshore QA lead stay in constant contact with the onsite team so that any immediate issues can be addressed. The time difference between the U.S. and India also enables a 24/7 testing cycle --your developers write code during the day and your team in India tests it by night. You come into the office in the morning to fresh, accurate reports.

Learn more about the offshore advantage
At QASource, we employ over 500 expert QA engineers. They perform all client testing in our multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art testing lab in the campus-rich city of Chandigarh, India. Experience the difference that QASource can make in your organization and learn more today!