History, Purpose And Why Is Software Testing Being Outsourced
I could start by explaining quality assurance processes in preindustrial communities, long before anyone had ever heard of software. But that would actually require writing a book.So I’ll just instantly note some things that are probably obvious if you think about them, but that you may take for granted. Before the Industrial Revolution and the advent of modern capitalism, the calculus of quality assurance was a bit different than it is today. Markets were normally monopolized by guilds. Without free market competition, assuring quality wasn’t necessarily necessary for keeping clients happy. And in the absence of strong governments, attempts by the state to prevent defects in products tended to be rare or ineffective.
Software Testing In The Early Days To know where software testing and quality assurance implement within the history of software, it’s necessary to understand that programmers require to fulfill several distinct goals in order to make the client happy. It’s also worth noting that, early on, programmers managed to work in small teams. They adhered to the “cathedral”-style appearance to software development promoted by Fred Brooks, who argued in his 1975 book The Mythical Man-Month that programming is easiest when projects are small, finite, and when a lot of testing can be done before releasing products to the public.
Purpose of Software Testing So what’s the scope of software testing? The definitions you will usually encounter are “to minimize defects” or “to catch bugs early.” These are developer-centric definitions and we as developers tend to communicate these definitions to non-developers.
Outsourced Software Testing Evaluate By Your Objectives In this complete equation, it is necessary to constantly look at your business/project’s aspirations. The experience of the partner, work ethics, prices, production, reputation, has to be weighed as per your specifications. Only when the whole equation balances by your objectives, you would be able to bring value and deliver market-ready products and services. Questions like, the testing partner has the best of testing labs, but is it appropriate for my requirements? Is the cost too less to believe in their capabilities? Are the communication lines open 24*7? What if there is a security lapse, what is the backup plan?
Reputation In The Market Relevance and reliability of your potential partner are absolutely important. Do some research on the awards and the type of recognition that the software quality assurance companies have received in the testing and software fraternity. Finally, assess the company’s customer database and get a clue on its performance and delivery success.
Cost-Effectiveness Cost is an essential aspect to consider. However, it must not result in hiring amateur resources. This will lead to the generation of the same costs or increase the costs with no output. It is advised to not rest your decision only on the cost factors.
Resources Your obvious reason for outsource qa has been, why to build resources and skill sets when expertise is readily available and the resources do not need training. Your testing partner must have experience with an astute team that is updated with the technology that you need and who can advise you on the right methodologies.