QASource Blog

Free often comes at a cost. In terms of open-source test management tools, that cost is the quality limitation placed on your QA. Even the savings you seek by choosing a free test management source disappear if a critical bug is missed, your launch date is delayed or you are forced to make expensive fixes later in production. While the well-established open-source test management tools have survived a decade or more in the software testing industry, their role has been greatly reduced. The simple irony is, it is hard to achieve maximum QA value with a free product.

Enjoying the advantages of offshore QA solutions should not mean you have to compromise your software development best practices. QA is a critical component of your SDLC, but it is not the only component that is important to integrate with your current development cycle. Similarly, while your QA team may be able to guide and optimize your testing requirements, they are not the sole stakeholders in your product’s success. Within this collaborative effort, your test management system aligns QA with other departments of SDLC. So, do not feel the need to give up your test management software of choice in order to access offshore QA testing and its attendant time, cost and quality efficiencies.

This is how important software quality testing is to the success of your product—40% of tech startups fail because of poor or absent QA. Failing to implement one of the fundamental aspects of software development can sabotage your all efforts. Now, if you are reading this, then the chances are good that you will not be making the mistake of bypassing QA all together. More likely, the danger you run is not optimizing your software quality testing for consistent results that deliver a quality product to your users.

Automation requires a lot of manual effort. Before you push a single test case through the precision rigors of an automation test suite, you have to account for and describe every potential. Machines are tools. They are not thinkers. They do not recognize the genius in your coding or the end-user experience at the market edge of your product. In fact, no matter how strong your code is, if you do not have the right test automation framework in place, your test will be brittle and it will break.

There is a threefold way to improve the value of your QA investment. Stacked one atop the other, these three elements combine to make your software testing faster, better, and more cost effective. The strategy looks like this: Taking advantage of test automation saves you time. Outsourcing that test automation to a QA expert increases your test coverage and improves the quality of your product. Engaging a QA expert located offshore dramatically reduces your resource cost.

Digital technology faces its sternest test when it is applied to our health. The benefits of speed, accuracy and automation are balanced against the responsibilities of consistency, reliability and mobility. Those who work in the medical software domain are charged with walking the line between innovation and regulation. Every potential advance in medical device sophistication faces a gauntlet of regulations before it ever gets tested within the realities of the commercial market.

Agile and offshore are two of the most exciting ideas currently filling the QA space. Both practices offer software developers production efficiencies and comprehensive product advantages that are becoming industry standard. By combining the two, you get higher-quality results faster, cheaper and with a better focus on the user experience. That is a lot of promise. Can you really depend on an offshore Agile test automation service to deliver?

Offshore quality assurance testing is the solution you need when your potential exceeds your capacity. Your team has the talent and vision to design a great product, but a quality assurance expert can make sure it reaches the market on time, on budget, and with the functionality that delivers the best possible user experience.

Agile teams produce better products because they see the bigger picture. Involving those with a business perspective along with your technical team during the software testing process helps maintain focus on where all the hard work is headed. Adding an expert QA team to that mix only improves matters. Now, you have a diverse range of skill sets, experience, and perspective to round out your product offering.