Outsource It!

Outsourcing Quality Assurance

Many companies think that QA—software testing—is a logical function to outsource. Often, however, that’s not the most prudent approach due to the following reasons:

• QA engineers often require more training than developers. Domain experience can be far more involved than learning to write code with industry-standard technologies.

• QA engineers often possess greater knowledge of the software functionality than the developers and designers. They become key employees, which in turn increases your dependency on the vendor.

• Communication skills are more important for QA engineers than for most developers.

• The cost difference between local and outsourced QA engineers is not always as dramatic as it is for developers. ...