QASource Blog

The world today is highly connected through the internet and social media, we are able to stay connected, even if we are thousands of miles away from each other! Our interconnected way of life is not just for social media, it has reached into other aspects of life. This has opened the door for offshore teams-for companies to have teams located in different countries. As amazing as this is, software companies faced some difficulty. In order to meet these obstacles head-on, the Agile methodology was created.

Many top software companies have adopted the Agile methodology because adopting the Agile methodology into an organization yield many rewards. Some of these include higher satisfaction because of more frequent releases, more development time for iterations, the QA team receives access to the software earlier than usual, critical bugs are caught early in the project and stakeholders receive higher visibility.

Now that we all use the internet regularly to communicate in real-time video, often from the other side of the planet, it’s difficult to imagine a service that can’t be outsourced offshore. Even “offshoring” is starting to sound archaic. Technologies like video conferencing and workplace collaboration platforms - along with internationally-understood cross-border business standards - have taken much of the pain out of offshore resourcing.

Outsourcing QA has proven to be highly beneficial for the software industry. When companies partner with an outsourced testing provider, they can save money, produce higher quality software and have access to expert QA engineers with hard-to-find skill sets. As with any endeavor, outsourcing also has its challenges. Some of these challenges, or 'pain points,' are more common than others. QASource's engineers have gathered the most common challenges software companies face and have shared methods to overcome these obstacles. 

Check out QASource’s latest infographic below to read our expert engineer's tips on how to solve the 4 most prevalent pain points of outsourcing QA: 

There’s a world of difference between “good” and “good enough.”

Think of it in end-user terms—what sort of emotional response are you hoping for when your customers get their hands on your product for the first time? You want them to be impressed, you want them to be at ease. You want them to have the best experience possible.

It is common knowledge that every individual and business, regardless of its industry, should invest in some form of cybersecurity software. All too often, a familiar news story flashes across our television screens: another major company has had a data breach, affecting the data of hundreds of individuals. The now common and frequent occurrence of these hacks has made cybersecurity software a necessity for individuals and businesses alike. As with any kind of software, testing and QA is vitally important, if not absolutely necessary. Without proper testing, cybersecurity software companies are unable to ensure customers that their devices and data are secure from any possible attacks.

As helpful as it would be to have a one-size-fits-all approach to software testing, there simply isn’t one-and there probably never will be. Why is that, you ask? The answer is deceptively simple: every product and product team is different. Needs vary greatly from company to company and industry to industry, making it tough to prescribe a set, uniform testing approach. For some companies, a long-term partnership with a dedicated QA team is the right choice. For others, on-demand, ad-hoc testing will suffice.

With so many factors affecting your decision to find a QA partner or just stick with ad-hoc testing, how do you make the choice? The best place to start is understanding the key differences between the two approaches.

By now, most product companies are familiar with the benefits of outsourced QA, the biggest one being the lower cost for a potentially higher headcount. Some are even familiar with the big advantages that come with outsourcing to places like India: the culture of leadership in IT, the experience of many of the engineers, and the time difference that allows Indian teams to test while U.S. teams sleep are just a few.

Whenever one is starting any sort of QA endeavor, a plan needs to be put in place. This is important for testing the performance of an application as well. Being fully prepared and having a well-defined test plan put in place can help prevent delays. QASource’s expert engineers have pulled together their expertise and created a checklist of metrics and tasks to complete when preparing for performance testing.

The Internet of Things, also referred to as IoT, is all about unifying the smart objects that surround us. These are objects that we instinctively think of as “smart,” like our phones, tablets, computers, and other personal, digital devices. But the IoT umbrella also includes things that we might overlook cars, bicycles, home alarm systems, coffeemakers but which have the capacity to generate, store, and share vast amounts of information about us, their owners and users.