Use QA As Your First Step To Outsourcing

Quality Assurance, or QA, is often given short shrift in a software development organization, especially when budgets are tight. When debating the software development budget at one of my software companies, the CEO finally asked, "Well, do you really want to hire a QA guy, or a programmer to add features to the software?"

It was a tough choice. I decided to hire the programmer because we had a huge list of features to implement. And we could not afford to implement a QA process without hiring a significant staff of QA engineers and someone to manage them.

In another example, an Accelerance client had developed their software and was getting ready for a Beta release to their first customers. They too had neglected QA. Although the work of their individual programmers was good, the entire system needed testing after the programming work was integrated together.

This client realized that going to market without a comprehensive test of the system would be a major disaster. An obvious indicator of the impending doom was the missing data on screens of the application whenever the VP of Engineering tried to use the software. Their target market was ordinary consumers who would not tolerate any missing data, confusing behavior or unexpected error messages.

How could such good engineers create such lousy software!?

It is because QA is the ugly step sister of software development. Even if the engineers are unit testing their code, they do not want to be bothered with testing the entire application. It is not considered a creative or "fun" part of the process. Consequently, QA is often neglected, leading to mediocre software and unhappy users.

Outsourcing is an excellent solution to the problem of nonexistent or incomplete QA. Yet some people are surprised to learn QA can even be outsourced. Outsourcing your QA is a terrific first step to taking advantage of low-cost offshore engineering resources.

One reason QA is such a good place to start with outsourcing is you do not necessarily need to divulge your source code. You can deliver a binary version of your software for installation and testing by your outsourced QA team. Look for a team with experience performing the type of QA that you need. You can divide QA into 5 different types of testing:

1. Requirements Testing - making sure your software does what you designed it to do

2. Usability Testing - specialized testing that may require focus groups of target users

3. Load or Stress Testing - to ensure your software has the required performance

4. Environment Testing - testing your software on different operating systems, browsers, etc.

5. Regression Testing - an automated process to repeat tests quickly on each new release of your software

Regression testing is often used with unit testing. Unit testing is performed during programming and requires access to the source code. Other separate regression tests can exercise the user and programmatic interfaces defined for your software without viewing the source code.

Avoid outsourcing too much at once. Pick the type of testing that will give you the biggest benefit. For example, Regression Testing may be valuable because you can reuse the tests yourself after they are developed by the outsourced QA team. On the other hand, Environment Testing requires a large number of test cases, and low cost outsourcing is the only way to affordably complete them.

In summary, it is important to recognize the value of QA in the software development process. You may start out with a small development team and be satisfied with the quality of their code. As the complexity of the software grows, you can add QA resources either by outsourcing or hiring your own internal team.

When you undertake the creation of a large and complex software project, it is critical to plan for professional QA as part of the effort. If you don't, you run the risk of making a bad first impression and losing critical early sales, funding for future projects, or worse. Even though outsourcing is criticized for eliminating jobs, outsourced QA may be just the tool you need to help keep yours.

Steve Mezak is a successful Silicon Valley technical entrepreneur and international outsourcing expert. Get your copy of his free report on "Outsourced Development - A Secret Weapon for Quickly Creating Software Products" now at http://www.Accelerance.com

Quick Tips On Bringing Out The Best In People

Want to bring out the best in people?Edward W. Smith,... Read More

Plans & Goal Setting - Kicking winning Goals

Kicking Winning Business Goals The competition for business... Read More

A Checklist for Organized Executives

I could begin this article by providing a checklist of... Read More

Five Ways to Influence Change in Others

Because of my work as a consultant, trainer and coach... Read More

Performance Appraisal Checklist: Raise Not Just Appraise Performance

It's that time again! Perhaps the most dreaded management practice... Read More

Project Managment: Land the Plane Stop Doing and Start Succeeding

We all spend time on planning vacations. If it's not... Read More

Work Environment Tidbits

Color is a big factor effecting all indoor... Read More

How To Use Outsourcing To Beat Your Competition

Outsourcing is when you hire outside professionals or services to... Read More

Five Key Strategies for Making Your Nonprofit Business More Effective

I love tennis both as a spectator and... Read More

Leadership Skill: How to Handle Difficult Conversations

A good leader has the ability to empower others. It... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Ideas for Everyday Training

This article relates to the Training competency, commonly evaluated in... Read More

How To Use W Edwards Deming

Human beings and the way they interact are extraordinarily Complex.... Read More

3 Reasons Why CRM Strategies Fail

Customer relationship management (CRM) is one of the most effective... Read More

Employee Motivation - Access Their Unique Talents

Your people are invaluable to you. They are the lifeblood... Read More

Effective Meetings Begin With a Real Agenda

Everyone knows that an agenda is the key to an... Read More

Temporary Employees and Operational Problems; Your Use of Temps Might Reveal Warning Signs

A recent Washington Post article, described the life of temporary... Read More

Bolster Credibility with Investors--Avoid These Phrases in Your Business Plan

Remember Papa John's commercial on TV with the slogan "Better... Read More

What One Thing?

A few weeks ago I asked my readers what the... Read More

Questions To Ask Employees You Want To Retain

Times of cost cutting and downsizing has dramatically impacted the... Read More

Deciding What to Delegate

DECIDING WHAT TO DELEGATE: Once the benefits of delegation are... Read More

Magnificent Meetings - 5 Tips for Success

Your impact at meetings will determine in a big way... Read More

The Silent Assassin - What to Do When They Visit You?

IntroductionThere are a group of people in the community that... Read More

Build Rapport Fast! - Eight Easy Steps

Building rapport is all about creating a relationship, in the... Read More

Drafting an Employee Manual Sample Outline

One of the hardest things I had discovered running my... Read More

Sarbanes-Oxley and Section 404: Old Dog, New Teeth

The failures we have seen in the quality and integrity... Read More