Getting Started with Outsourced Software Testing

/in /by

According to an article in IT Pro/silicon.com, one in three offshore or outsourced software testing projects fail. Research firm Ventoro found that “the main cause of offshore testing failures is a lack of preparation and poor execution by the user organization.” Ventoro went on to conclude that some offshore software testing companies can try to “steamroller the initial engagement process” in a rush to get the contract signed. MIT reports that only 37% of offshore testing co-sourced projects succeed and 50% of offshore software testing strategic partnerships fail.  How do you like those odds? In the event that you do fail, where is the flaming finger of blame going to point?  If your company depends on software for either new revenue or operational efficiency and productivity then it seems like making this type of bet on outsourced software testing and development is overly risky.

Here are a few things you can do to improve the odds in your favor and minimize your risk:

  • Start with the best outsourced software testing company you can find
  • Focus on the lowest risk area
  • Demand daily deliverables
  • Insist on real value
  • Use a scorecard
  • Report and adjust every week

TESTCo is a software testing company that provides offshore testing, software testing services, outsourced software testing and offshore software testing.

Offshore Software Testing Company Helps BetweenMarkets Deliver On Time

/in , /by

Why would a company with good internal software testing capabilities decide to hire an offshore software testing company?

BetweenMarkets, an enterprise software company specializing in distributed order fulfillment, was recognized as one of the premier development organizations in Austin, Texas. Although BetweenMarkets had released their first product with zero customer reported defects, they quickly realized that their software testing process – which consisted of a combination of in-house testing and expensive consultants – would not scale as they began the build out of their second release.

Problem

BetweenMarkets was preparing to release a new product version to market. Although the product had been successful in production environments, the management team was worried about the changing dynamics of their quality processes. As implementation of their second product release began, it became obvious that their existing software testing processes would not be effective going forward. “We had tremendous success in the quality of our first release. However, as the size and complexity of our application grew, there was just too much ground to cover,” said Erik Huddleston, CTO at BetweenMarkets. “There was no way we could cost effectively staff and train the people we needed to maintain our rigorous quality standards. Not only was there a tremendous amount of code to test, but there was also a wide variety of skills needed to effectively analyze the quality of our application and diagnose problems.”

Decision to Use An Offshore Software Testing Company

BetweenMarkets decided to turn to an  offshore software testing company in order to achieve the scalability, flexibility, and diversity of skills that were required. After interviewing and accepting bids from over a dozen offshore software testing firms, BetweenMarkets selected TESTCo. “TESTCo’s Engineered Assurance technology made it the clear choice,” Huddleston said. “Engineered Assurance, coupled with some great overseas relationships, gave us the real-time visibility and predictability that no other firm could deliver.”

Solution

At the end of each workday, a build is produced with a list of new features implemented and defects resolved. A TESTCo project manager, aided by Engineered Assurance technology, then analyzes the work and formulates a test strategy covering the next 12 hours. A team of specialists is assembled whose skills exactly match the night’s challenges. By morning, when BetweenMarkets’ development team returns to work, their issue-tracking system is fully populated with the results of the preceding day’s code analysis. BetweenMarkets immediately knows of any problems that were introduced into the product within a day of their creation. At the same time, BetweenMarkets’ management team has a full online report of the preceding day’s activities as well as analysis and recommendations going forward, all because of offshore software testing through TESTCo.

Benefits of Offshore Software Testing

In addition to enabling a new, more powerful development process, TESTCo offshore software testing provided BetweenMarkets with a number of tangible benefits. By offering a flexible usage model for testing services and a reduced per-head cost, BetweenMarkets was able to reduce its software QA testing related expenses by 50%. “The types of outsourced / offshore software testing skills you need vary over the course of a release as does the number of resources required. TESTCo was able to flexibly allocate the right people at the right time to keep the quality of our product high, and the cost of the effort low,” said Huddleston. Since BetweenMarkets is able to weave software testing into the daily development process, they are able to dramatically reduce the length of their release cycle. “TESTCo has helped enable a real-time, iterative development process that has had a dramatic impact on our time-to-market,” Huddleston said. “The introduction of real-time software testing decreased release cycle times by 20% and increased the defect discovery rate by 400%. TESTCo used their Engineered Assurance technology to provide us with accurate defect discovery within a single build, so that by the next build, the defect could be repaired. It’s hard to quantify the value of fixing bugs that are fresh on the developer’s mind instead of months later before a release, but it is significant,” said Huddleston. “It has had a tremendous impact on the quality of the code we produce.”

Automated Testing Tools: Watir Performance Testing, Squish Testing

/in /by

You can dramatically increase both the speed and accuracy of your testing processes with automated functional testing. Some of our customer have automated functional testing in place and need help on improving their process, while others know they want to implement it and don’t know where to begin. Let TESTCo help you figure out the best approach for automated functional testing.

From Watir Testing to Squish Testing- We’ve Got The Experience You Need With Automated Testing Tools

TESTCo offers more than QA automated testing services, we also know the tools you’ll need to be successful. If you’ve already invested in a product, we can make sure you’re getting the most out of it, or if you need help selecting a tool, we have the expertise to help you make the selection that is right for you.

This is not an exhaustive list. Technology changes rapidly and we are always investigating new products. If you don’t see the product or approach that you are already using, please let us know. We’ll be sure to add it to our automated testing skill-set.

  • TestComplete
  • QuickTest Pro
  • Squish Testing
  • Silk Test
  • WinRunner
  • Rational Robot
  • eTester
  • QA Run
  • Test Companion
  • Watir Testing and Watir Performance Testing
  • JUnit, JTest, JProbe

Web Site Performance Testing

As you can see, TESTCo has a lot of experience with automated testing tools but our expertise doesn’t stop there. A lot of our customer couldn’t answer these questions when they came to us:

  • Do you know, how your web site performs when falling into extreme loads?
  • Do know how to prevent crisis situations?  If your web site was under extreme load, would it perform slowly or would it stop performing all together?
  • Do you know the bottlenecks and other breaking points of your web site and want to eliminate them?

Do any of these questions sound familiar?  If so, let us help. We have experience with Watir automated testing, web site performance testing, web application performance testing and Watir performance testing.

What Do I Do Next If I’m Ready For Help With QA Testing Services, Watir Testing, Squish Testing or Website QA?

If you are in a hurry and need help quickly –

  • Please, contact us and let’s talk in more detail to see if we can help you.
  • If you’re reading this, then you’re probably in a hurry and looking for help.
  • I promise that we won’t waste your time.
  • Within a 30 minute phone conversation, we will clearly let you know if we can help you and exactly how much it will cost.

Benefits of Automated Software Testing

/in /by

Automated testing of software has become one of the most popular ways of increasing the efficiency of testing today. Most typically, automated software testing eliminates the human hand in test execution steps. Automation testing is completed using technology instead of people to test and verify the software product and functionality.  Automated software testing by TESTCo can provide this and more.

Automated Software Testing Services

A critical aspect of deploying a test automation product is to develop a realistic plan for implementation and to create a business case that establishes the expectations and structure of the project. Test automation also provides challenges to less experienced test organizations, due to the requirement for a separate development life cycle to produce a well-structured, easily maintainable and reusable process.
TESTCo has extensive experience in implementing test automation in general. Having worked with customers on countless projects, we know how to help you maximize the value of the tool you choose. This, combined with our experience in building a high quality software testing automation framework, provides you with an expert partner to make your project a success.

What Are The Benefits of Automated Software Testing?

Automation saves execution, which results in more time for analysis, design and development, and can result in higher quality software.  Automated software testing can also be part of a Web site test.  In addition:

  • Implementing automated software testing and automated functional testing will reduce the number of required test cycles and involve less people to execute test cycles. Long term, this will reduce the total costs of testing.
  • Automated software testing enhances the repeatability, maintainability, automatic reporting and the ability to run unattended regression (repeated testing) tests.
  • Apart from test execution, other areas of the testing process may be automated, such as administrative tasks and any routine tasks in preparation.

What do you do if you’re ready to explore automated software testing? Contact TESTCo, of course.