A Software QA Company Built Out of Necessity

For many years, I struggled to find a really good software QA company for my projects. I tried one company after another, but was never completely satisfied. You might have experienced this yourself.

We always managed to get through the tight spots but it was bruising for my teams and our customers.

It shouldn’t be that hard to get really talented and effective software testing and QA help.

QA Process and Technology Discovery

In 2000, I joined some friends in a startup that eventually failed because we were a little “too early”. But, as part of that startup, we built some technology and a testing process that just nailed it. Every. Darn. Day.

It’s hard to describe the joy and elation that we felt when our daily work came back fresh each morning with either confirmation that it worked properly or a set of defects that we could easily find, replicate and fix!

No more late night calls, either!

No, we weren’t perfect and our software had some issues. But, man-oh-man, we definitely felt bullet proof! We finally had a software development process where the Testing and QA was as good as the Create and Build.

It felt like we could conquer the world!

However, the fair winds of commerce did not blow in our direction and we couldn’t find a product that the market wanted.

We disbanded that startup and started technical consulting – taking our talent, tools and testing/QA process forward into the rich Austin software market to help other folks who had ideas with more traction. We were about to be surprised.

Software QA Company | Jeff Hotz | TESTCo CEO

Jeff Hotz, Founder and CEO

Discovering the Crown Jewels

It turned out that there were more folks looking for testing and a good software QA company than there were looking for Build/Create help.

Our QA tool and process for delivering spectacular software testing and QA was just what a VP Engineering in a software company was looking for to help them achieve their goals of faster product delivery, better customer satisfaction and cheaper solutions for real problems.

TESTCo is Born in Silicon Hills

I started TESTCo formally in November 2002 with two clients, one QA Manager and four talented Test Engineers. We primarily focused on the Austin, TX market since it was already a hot spot for newly-minted software companies. Austin was (and still is) a thriving community of technical, marketing and entrepreneurial talent. We now serve clients across the country and many outside the U.S.

Looking Eastward with Caution

In 2003, I expanded the team to include two new teams from Ukraine. It was a little dicey at the time as Ukraine was still closely connected (politically) to Russia and I was concerned about losing or exposing our clients’ intellectual property to potential theft with no recourse.

I knew Russia and China posed larger political/legal threats and uncertainty than I wanted to bear for our clients. But, I really wanted to access the tremendous pool of talented Test Engineers in Ukraine. I’d met them and worked with them on some projects and I wanted to work with them!

An American in the Ukraine

The Ukrainian government awarded me a Visa to visit and I made the trip to Ukraine. I spent several weeks there learning about the political and entrepreneurial environments and laws – especially as they relate to IP protection and business law.
I met many tech entrepreneurs and was excited about the possibility that talented Ukrainian engineers could bring to US-based tech companies. They were hungry to work on exciting US-based projects, too! I spent several days working with two tech entrepreneurs understanding how we could build a dedicated TESTCo Team in Ukraine.

I left Ukraine with fond memories, many new friends and two business partnerships that have lasted to this day.

Test Engineers Instead Of Testers

Our customers were delighted with the new QA processes and talent we could bring to help them achieve their goals. Our customer list and expanded team continued to grow as we built QA Manager capabilities in Austin, TX.

During this time, we also discovered the difference between “testers” and “Test Engineers”. I didn’t know there was a difference previously and am infinitely grateful that I learned it early.

“Testers” can test software as long as they are told what needs to be tested. This can work well enough on large projects but smaller and faster projects need something more.

“Test Engineers” are university educated with a degree in a mathematics or technical science curriculum. They have also made the conscious choice to build their career on a “destructive” path (testing and QA) rather than a “constructive” path like a software developer or engineer.

The Commitment To Hire Only Test Engineers

Test Engineers are much harder to find than “testers”. Test Engineers are also much more valuable in terms of strategy, productivity and quality of work.

Within a single year, we replaced all of our “testers” with Test Engineers and implemented a policy of only hiring Test Engineers.

It was also at this time that TESTCo was awarded one of the very first Agile Software Testing awards from ISTQB. A new breed of QA Company was born.

TESTCo was delighting its clients on a daily basis.

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Our Software QA Company Becomes a Really Good On-Demand QA Company

In 2008, the market turned slightly and full-time technical resources were rapidly becoming less popular than On-Demand technical talent.

The market was still asking for talent, just on a shorter and more variable time frame. Changing TESTCo from a focus on full-time projects to On-Demand projects was a challenge! Nearly everything about how we found, sized and delivered short-term projects was different than our long-term project work – except the testing – we still needed very talented QA Managers and Test Engineers.

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A Short Introduction to TESTCo

The Magic of QA Managers and a Time Zone Change

The year 2008 also brought another market request – testing in the same time zone. Our Ukrainian Test Engineers were excellent but their time zone was 4-6 hours ahead of US Time. Many new startups had technology projects that were moving very quickly and they wanted real-time testing support. Some of our Ukrainian engineers agreed to start a little later and work a little later to help bridge the time zone gap. This worked well as a choice for our Test Engineers but didn’t work well as a general business practice.

TESTCo needed a team in the Central Time Zone.

I was raised in South Texas and very familiar with the costs and benefits available from Mexico. I noticed that the technical universities in Mexico were very actively growing and creating new software programming and testing talent. Mexico had a number of large technology companies and consultants that also provided a great source for new software testing talent.

Looking Southward

I began building another team of Test Engineers in Monterrey, NL Mexico in 2008.

It was at this time that we started seeing much more complex software testing and QA projects. Our customers wanted more than just “test this for me”. They wanted Risk Analysis, Agile Testing and a better QA Strategy than they could come up with themselves.

We needed highly experienced QA Managers to help lead our Test Engineer teams to deliver the software quality outcomes our customers needed and wanted.

We began building a QA Manager Program to attract and retain the very best QA Managers in North America.

Our QA Managers have at least five years of QA Management experience and require about a year to become fully proficient with TESTCo’s QA Management processes.

We provide a QA Manager for every project – large or small – at no additional cost. This means you communicate daily with a very savvy QA professional who speaks fluent English and works in the Central time zone.

Building Raving Fans

TESTCo was and is built on the idea that we serve our customers at least as well as we’d want to be served ourselves.

The book, Raving Fans, captures and illuminates our vision for Customer Service.

On-demand software testing projects and more than three teams around the world can be a challenge to manage.

The shift from long-term full time projects to short term on-demand projects caused us to re-evaluate how we maintain and grow our clients.

It’s easy in a short, fast project to focus on just the outcomes and ignore or minimize the real value – customer satisfaction and achieving business goals.

It’s also really hard to constantly be filling a leaky bucket of customers. We didn’t want to take that approach. We wanted to build a company where the talent and the clients really wanted to work together. A company where the projects were the vehicle to living a life we love rather than the purpose of our lives. We wanted to serve clients in the same way we wanted to be served ourselves.

A Focus on Process Improvement, Not Lead Generation

So, we began building a robust quality assurance management and consulting process. A way we could offer our clients the very best of software QA strategies and practices – no matter how large or small their project was. Everyone got the benefit of professional QA analysis, strategy and planning – not just the testing they asked for.

Finding and Building Lifetime Customers

At TESTCo, we actively seek Lifetime Clients—clients who value our work so very highly that they can’t imagine building their business and software without our help and guidance.

This doesn’t happen on our first, or even second project with you. It takes time to build strong trusted relationships and the evidence you need to be sure that we have your best interests at heart. We’re willing to take the time to truly understand your needs and desires and then do that work and deliver those measures.

Our clients consistently comment on our talented teams and friction-free processes that help them stay ahead of their quality goals. No matter if they’re working with us full time or just need a little help when it’s time to push a release out the door.

Once you’ve worked with TESTCo, you have a free pass to the front of the line whenever you need it!

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Building Internal and External QA Systems

Growing the company with an intense focus on finding, retaining and rewarding talented people towards a goal of keeping every customer for as long as possible required some careful thought and planning.

Our talented staff wanted increasingly interesting opportunities to accelerate their career growth.
Our clients wanted real value every day that aligned with their business and technical goals.

We began analyzing and building internal systems so that we could do two things simultaneously.

Insure that our work was clearly focused on our clients goals while delivering real value every day
Offload or reduce the amount of repetitive and boring tasks so our talented engineers and managers could build their expertise

We spent several years building and fine tuning our systems and process so that we are confident that 90%+ of our focus, attention and work effort are aimed specifically at each customer’s unique situation and goals.

We continue discovering and building new QA Systems to bring additional value to our clients.

By being more of a boutique software QA company, than a testing factory, we are making a positive impact on the business goals of our clients. We deliver value that far exceeds just testing.

Who We Are for You

We work at and grow TESTCo because it is an expression of “Living Lives We Love.”

We attract highly talented Test Engineers and QA Managers who are tired of the usual run around and want to work within an environment and for clients who are meaningful for them.

We pursue and attract clients who are tired of the usual outsourced nonsense and looking for talented expertise that really cares about their specific project and goals.

Are you tired of the usual?

Are you ready to put sharp minds to work who are dedicated to achieving your goals? I look forward to speaking with you.

On This Page

A Software QA Company Built Out of Necessity

QA Process and Technology Discovery

Jeff Hotz, Founder and CEO

Discovering the Crown Jewels

TESTCo is Born in Silicon Hills

Looking Eastward with Caution

An American in the Ukraine

Test Engineers Instead Of Testers

The Commitment To Hire Only Test Engineers

Our Software QA Company Becomes a Really Good On-Demand QA Company

A Short Introduction to TESTCo

The Magic of QA Managers and a Time Zone Change

Looking Southward

Building Raving Fans

A Focus on Process Improvement, Not Lead Generation

Finding and Building Lifetime Customers

Building Internal and External QA Systems

Who We Are for You

Software Testing Services

Software QA Services

Website and Mobile App Testing Services

Client Forms

On This Page

A Software QA Company Built Out of Necessity

QA Process and Technology Discovery

Jeff Hotz, Founder and CEO

Discovering the Crown Jewels

TESTCo is Born in Silicon Hills

Looking Eastward with Caution

An American in the Ukraine

Test Engineers Instead Of Testers

The Commitment To Hire Only Test Engineers

Our Software QA Company Becomes a Really Good On-Demand QA Company

A Short Introduction to TESTCo

The Magic of QA Managers and a Time Zone Change

Looking Southward

Building Raving Fans

A Focus on Process Improvement, Not Lead Generation

Finding and Building Lifetime Customers

Building Internal and External QA Systems

Who We Are for You

Software Testing Services

Software QA Services

Website and Mobile App Testing Services

Client Forms

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