It is quite clear what issues a business owner may face when deciding whether to give part of the work to outsourcers. How can I control the whole process? Who can guarantee that the job will actually be done?
This is also true for the IT business.
So what about QA outsourcing? What are the advantages? What can go wrong? Does your company really need outsourcing services? Will outsourcing suit you personally? We'll try to answer these questions below.
Basic Terms#
People often underestimate any new phenomenon due to a lack of necessary knowledge. Outsourcing is no exception. There are many embedded public stereotypes concerning this form of cooperation. But first, let's clarify the terms.
Outsourcing vs Outstaffing#
It is easy to get lost in these concepts because of their similarity. However, there are significant differences between them.
Outstaffing is often referred to as subcontracting. This is hiring a third-party specialist (or even an entire department) to perform certain tasks. Usually, outstaffers are hired when the task cannot be solved by the company itself. Outstaffing employees work closely with their employers until the end of the project, which means the employer must control the outstaffer directly.
Outsourcing, unlike outstaffing, means the contractor is responsible for the project results and does not need to cooperate with the employer on a daily basis. Outsourcing deals with the entire project, while outstaffing means hiring people to solve one specific task.
The external contractor undertakes to perform the entire scope of work, attracting its own resources rather than transferring them to the customer. The team involved in your project will have its own project manager, team leader, office, and equipment. The customer receives the finished result. What a customer needs to do is set the task and provide the necessary work data only.
Common Stereotypes About Outsourcing#
"Outsourcing is expensive."#
This stereotype has some substance. Attracting external contractors is rarely much cheaper than hiring employees of the same experience. Nevertheless, the total cost of the task - including the final cost of the specialist - is often reduced. You don't need to pay office rent, accounting services, or purchase equipment. In some cases, outsourcing becomes more profitable than recruiting office staff. At the same time, services of an external contractor can sometimes cost more - it depends on the scope and requirements.
"Outsourcing involves unqualified staff only."#
In some industries there is a risk of running into a team of inexperienced workers. Remote call centers spoil outsourcing's reputation the most.
Fortunately, this does not apply to the field of testing.
Most QA experts work as outsourcers. They are constantly exposed to a variety of projects and therefore have experience working in all conditions. The customer can always personally communicate with the team that will be engaged in testing and verify their qualifications. A reliable contractor will never interfere with that.
Outsourcing Pros#
- Workload control - scale your testing team up or down as needed
- Reduced hiring costs - no recruiting, onboarding, or benefits overhead
- No need to train staff - outsourcers come with the skills already
- Field experts only - specialists who live and breathe QA
- Established testing processes - mature workflows from day one
- Time optimization - faster ramp-up than building an in-house team
- Motivation - outsourcers are motivated by results, not by tenure
- Outside perspective - fresh eyes catch what internal teams miss
- Flexibility - outsourcers can handle multiple simultaneous tasks
When considering outsourcing, think about what led you to this decision: Do you need to reduce hiring costs, increase quality, or optimize testing time? Evaluating these factors will help you determine what type of services will be most useful, how long you need them, and how you can reduce costs.
Hiring a team of outsourcing testers guarantees access to highly qualified employees - and it is not always easy to find them on the open market.
Outsourcing Cons#
Cost Uncertainty#
Many customers believe outsource team services are pricey. This is quite subjective. It all depends on the expected scope of work, the size of the company, and the team's quality/qualification ratio.
You will not find an experienced professional with minimal salary expectations. That said, supply can satisfy growing market demand, and finding an appropriate payment option is not a big problem if you are clear about your requirements.
The more requirements - the higher the price. The customer sets priorities individually.
Security Concerns#
Security may be very important for some companies, since not everyone is ready to give a stranger access to internal resources. This issue is solved by:
- Giving partial access and filtering incoming tasks at the security level
- Signing an NDA (non-disclosure agreement)
- Ensuring that documentation, test cases, and scripts developed by contractors are clearly assigned as the intellectual property of the employer in the contract
Before concluding a contract with an outsourcing team, make sure they apply all necessary measures to protect information and that you understand the risks involved.
Lack of Independence#
Appealing to outsourcers means you do not have in-house testing experts. If for any reason you have to stop cooperating with a contractor, all you have left of their work is documentation and code you may not fully understand. Even experienced professionals will find it difficult to take over in this scenario.
To mitigate this risk, set the outsourcers' tasks correctly from the start. They need not only to test but also to write detailed documentation and comment on anything that is not obvious in their scripts. This helps new employees understand what was done earlier and get to work faster.
What About Large Projects?#
Attracting testers to large projects is not something new. Large companies are increasingly turning to outsource services because it allows them to save money, flexibly manage internal resources, and avoid the lack of in-house specialists when implementing serious IT tasks.
When timing and scope are critical, the main task of an outsourcing tester is proper planning, writing test documentation, and coordinating testing strategies. This helps quickly and efficiently process a large amount of information and create a test plan in order to optimize the terms for studying and testing the project.
When the project is too large, the outsourcing team appoints an experienced test manager to plan work at different levels and effectively organize large team activities.
Summary#
In spite of all the disadvantages, an outsourcer can be an excellent partner who knows how to adapt to the required conditions: terms, scope of work, and project complexity. The trend is clear: when you need qualified, flexible testing capacity, outsourcing is worth serious consideration.
Is outsourcing good or bad? It's up to you. But if there's something strange in your neighborhood - you're definitely gonna call outsourcers.