The decision to outsource software testing services or not has always been a topic of a common dilemma for organizations. However, a much more common dilemma for software organizations these days, especially for the MSMEs, is deciding on how to invest correctly in the resources for their software testing projects. Hiring experienced testers is one of the biggest challenges for any organization. So that leaves us with the question –
Is it better to outsource software testing services for your project?
OR
Is internalizing your testing requirements a better idea?
On the surface, there are obvious benefits and drawbacks for each option, So many business owners ask us about the how-to outsource software testing needs but, According to us, these will always vary from business to business, project to project, and it is essential for key stakeholders to analyze their situations against each of these points accordingly. Below we’ve included some pros and cons of outsourcing QA and software testing services, give it a read and let us know what you think.
Are there any that you would add?
On the very edge of the bucket, there are some obvious benefits and on the contrary, some drawbacks for both the options, however, these are strictly business-based and the contingencies vary in each case depending upon the requirements and business cases. Moreover, the decree of variance is also associated based on a specific project we are talking about. To get a holistic picture, let’s look at the pros and cons of outsourcing software testing project requirements.
What is software testing outsourcing?
Software testing outsourcing is the set of activities that are done by offshore software testing companies or independent companies. It is a crucial phase of the development process that companies need to make their web and mobile-based applications free of bugs! Most companies prefer outsourced software testing services during the development phases.
What are the Pros or Benefits of outsourcing software testing services?
1.No hole in the pocket
Outsourcing software testing allows organizations to eliminate high-end investments in both the hardware and the resources. There is a lot of money that gets saved from the training and resource investment in developing the learning and development functions of the company in terms of testing.
2. Reduce HR costs
It also reduces the HR costs as the company to which the testing is outsourced takes care of the recruitment of the right candidates pertaining to the testing needs. This also prevents the abrupt need for resources as the outsourcing software testing company has a plethora of testers with varied skills, experience, and areas of expertise.
3. Efficiency
The biggest benefit of outsourcing software testing is, Third-party software testing companies has a range of testing professionals who have the core knowledge and specialization in specific types of testing. The Experience testers will help you to design effective test cases and test scenarios Hence instead of wasting a lot of time training your existing resources under the project hours, outsourcing tends to give quicker, better optimized, and quality results in an efficient manner.
4. Management Time Savings
Just like outsourced software testing cost is low, Outsourcing saves a lot of strategic planning and management time. The respective project management can instead focus on reorganizing their internal teams to better focus on the apt business areas and core development.
Recommended Read: How can outsourcing software testing services be a Game Changer?
What are the Cons or Disadvantages of Outsourcing Software Testing Services?
1. Security and Confidentiality
There is a high risk of security involved in outsourcing your testing needs, as an organization has to share highly confidential and sensitive information such as customer databases, source codes, reference models, workflows, etc with the service providers. An organization has to take heavy measures in order to ensure that the privacy of such information is retained.
2. Finding a Trusted Partner
There are zillions of software outsourcing companies out there, but how does one round up from the plethora of choices? One of the core difficulties of outsourcing your testing needs is to find a suitable partner, whom you can entrust not only with the security of the information but also with the responsibility of potentially high value and business-crucial projects which have a lot of revenue and penalization lying on them
3. Quality
Even though the mention of quality is slightly odd, as the whole reason for the argument is Quality Assurance, however, the organization has to closely monitor the testing needs, as the entire reputation of the end deliverable is dependent on that. There is a lot of reputation at stake in case there are any issues with the end product, it also costs a lot of money as a penalty to the software project organization.
4. Loss of Control
With stringent project deadlines and heavy pressure, it can prove to be an extremely daunting task to maintain effective communication with the third party and to make sure that the testing is delivered on time for the other project documentation to commence. With in-house testing, there is better control over the project as well as the time.
5. Working Across Borders
Many times you have to outsource your business needs internationally in order to fit in certain functionalities that are available elsewhere. While you might find a way of working and the quality endearing, there are obvious disadvantages which lie in terms of time zones along with language barriers. There is also the communication hindrance with restricted common times to communicate and track the status daily and effectively.
Conclusion
Now that we have carefully weighed both the pros and cons of outsourcing software testing, we can conclude that the degree of effect varies from organization to organization based on their business requirements and the priority and sensibilities with which they deal. There is no one ideal method that works for all. Hence it is important to have a 360-degree overview of the situation after mapping out several factors before internalizing or outsourcing your testing needs.
