4 Rs For Scaling Outsourced Quality Assurance
According to a report, more than 34% of QA professionals lacked skills on the AI/ML front. Thus businesses have started QA outsourcing in order to reduce the skill gaps and deliver the best services.
With the need of releasing better products in the market at a rapid pace and increasing consumer requirements, the need for scaling testing and development has surged. Hence outsourcing QA has become a standard procedure that has the ability to scale up the testing initiatives. Moreover, it also lays special emphasis on drawing an outcome-based engagement.
To get maximum output from QA outsourcing, you need to be clear about the norms of engagement with your partners. Additionally, laying special emphasis on the 4 R’S will also ensure maximum productivity which have been listed as follows:
The 4 R’s For Deriving Maximum Engagement
Step 1 – Searching For The Right Partner
Finding the right partner is the foremost step of ensuring optimum engagement. While obtaining outsourced QA testing, ensure that the partner has an excellent work record. On top of it, they must have expertise in DevOps and CI/CD so as to ensure maximum productivity during delivery.
A skilled partner can also help you save up on cost and time and increase efficien
cy through pre-built accelerators. Additionally, he will bring skilled professionals on board to ensure the desired outcome for your investment.
While searching for a partner, try to look at their past experience in engagements and their references. This will help you gain insights into their working style and their quality of work.
Step 2 – Ensuring Right Procedure
After finding a good partner, the next step is ensuring that the working procedure and evaluation process is efficient. Mapping the key areas of your partner, orienting them with your team, and finding out the escalation points can help you stay on the right track. There should be proper interaction between business shareholders and the team members, especially those in the QA outsourcing and Development department.
Lack of access to certain tools among multiple teams may create a situation of fragmented visibility in the final product. An efficient procedure must focus on combining all the aspects in such a way so as to reduce the gaps.
Step 3 – Right Communication
Did you know that the common software development testing model was Agile, or agile-like, that was adopted by 87% of firms. Next up was DevOps at 36%, up from 28% in 2018?
Clear and effective communication are the 2 main pillars of quality assurance that help you achieve the desired outcome when integrated with DevOps, Agile or are in amalgamation with high-end technologies. Effective communication right from the beginning gives clarity about what is expected from everyone in the team and the need to keep an eye on the end goal, which is application release. It is usually accompanied by feedback and response generally taken up at every stage, which ensures the smooth working of the DevOps pipeline.
Step 4 – Right Outcome
Efforts must be made in setting the parameters for tracking and monitoring those so that you achieve success in your outsourced Q/A testing initiatives. Important metrics including reliability, velocity, reduced application release cycles, and ability to ramp up/ramp down are generally incorporated during the process. It is vital to lay emphasis on making customer-centric apps and curate user-friendly software with the least bugs. Some non-negotiable parameters are also kept in account, including deployment frequency, error rates at increased load, performance & load balancing, automation coverage of delivery process and recoverability to heighten the efficiency of the Q/A. Integrating a model that combines the financials with the engagement goals would help you yield the desired outcomes. While outsourcing or working with a new partner, begin a non-critical aspect, form a process and achieve the desired engagement results.
The Bottom Line
Ensure that the 4R’s engagement is included while implementing outsourced QA testing on a website or application. Associating with the right partner would give you the best returns on investment, and communication helps the team know what’s expected from them. The right outcome is generally achieved by setting the parameters which are tracked and monitored consistently. Last but not least, the work procedure and evaluation works smoothly. Clarity about the process, in the beginning, would help you achieve the desired outcomes and timely delivery of the project.
