Why Outsourcing Software Quality Assurance Saves Time and Cost

Bad code costs the world $2.84 trillion annually. The cost of fixing a bug after a release is 30x more than that of finding it early. It is costly to maintain QA in-house. You add approximately 79000 dollars a year per tester. Additionally, there is a 6.2-week delay in product releases.

Outsourcing Software Quality Assurance reduces QA cycles by 40%. They reduce the cost of testing by up to 60 percent. The new features are also introduced 3-4 weeks sooner, without any new employees.

This blog will explain how outsourcing the software quality assurance can help you save time and cost.

What is Outsourcing in Software Quality Assurance?

Outsourcing Software Quality Assurance refers to the process of contracting another team to test and verify the quality of your software. Companies hire specialized vendors to do the work of an in-house QA team. These vendors come with expert testers, cutting-edge tools, and established approaches. The aim is to ensure that the software is reliable, cost-effective, and to deliver software more quickly.

Goals of Outsourcing SQA

The following are the few goals of outsourcing software quality assurance services:

• Cost Savings: Save money by eliminating full-time employees and costly testing equipment.
• Rapid Development: External teams are able to operate independently and reduce release cycles.
• Availability of Expertise: Have experienced testers who have worked in various industries and technologies.
• Scalability: It is easy to upscale or downscale QA efforts as needed by the project.
• High Quality: Software should be bug-free, secure and easy to use without an unnecessary strain on your developers.

Common Challenges in In-House Quality Assurance

The following are the main issues with in-house software quality assurance.

High Costs

It is costly to develop a QA team internally. A QA tester in the U.S. has an estimated annual salary of approximately $79000/year. Others add costs of hiring, training, and benefits, and the expenses increase even further. This is a heavy burden to small and mid-size companies.

Limited Tools and Expertise

QA requires superior automation, performance, and security testing tools. These are very expensive tools, and they require professionals to operate them. Most internal departments cannot afford the new technologies or do not have specialists. This restricts the quality of testing.

Delays in Development

When developers are in charge of QA and code, projects are usually delayed. It has been found that the average delay of software releases is 6.2 weeks in a case where QA remains in-house. This delays product launches and lowers competitiveness in the market.

7 Time-Saving Advantages of Outsourced Software Quality Assurance

1. Follow-the-Sun Testing Cycles

The Outsourcing ensures 24/7 testing. Global SQA teams operate across time zones. When coders in San Francisco go home, testers in Manila begin to run tests. They spot bugs, catalogue them, and report them at night. By morning, fixes are ready. This cycle helps to save 3-4 days every sprint without overtime compensation.

2. Instant Access to Niche SQA Engineers

It takes months to hire talented testers. This is solved by outsourcing. Vendors retain experts on demand. Require a security tester to review an audit? You have a qualified specialist in 24 hours. Require performance, mobile, or Salesforce testing? The appropriate specialist is at hand. This implies zero waiting time and no deadlines missed.

3. Pre-Built Test Automation Frameworks

Automation also consumes time and requires weeks of installation. There are existing outsourced software quality assurance partners who already have operational frameworks such as Selenium, Cypress, and Robot-API. They also offer thousands of reusable test codes. You do not need to start all over, but begin on day one. A single customer saved 2 sprints by cutting setup time from 45 days to 5 days.

4. On-Demand Scalability for Sprint Peaks

QA work is not the same each week. The workload usually peaks in advance of a release. Outsourcing allows you to expand the team from 4 testers to 20 testers within 48 hours. You downscale after release. No vacancies, no training, no idle employees. To generate 700 hours of savings in one night, a fintech company hired 12 testers.

5. Parallel Testing on 500+ Devices and Browsers

Local device testing is slow. Cloud labs that are used by outsourced software quality assurance partners have hundreds of real devices and browsers. At the same time, they can test your app on iPhones, Android phones, Chrome, and Safari, among others. A single test cycle encompasses 92 percent of the world's devices within an hour (90 minutes) rather than three days. This implies quicker feedback and quicker releases.

6. Faster Bug Triage & Reporting Dashboards

Bugs are time wasters when they are not handled. QA teams that are outsourced integrate tools such as Jira, Azure DevOps, and Slack into a single system. Every bug will have screenshots or video evidence, severity labels, and explicit assignments. The mean triage time decreases to 45 minutes (instead of 8 hours). This terminates the problem of work on my machine and keeps the developers on track.

7. Certified QA Processes (ISTQB, TMMi)

Outsourced quality assurance departments comply with international specifications. They deal with ISTQB test plans, TMMi metrics, and ISO reports. You do not have to train them or describe processes. They already use the same language as your project managers. Instead of weeks, onboarding requires just a 30-minute call, keeping your roadmap on track.

How to Choose the Right Software Quality Assurance Outsourcing Partner?

The following are the five tips to choose the best software quality assurance outsourcing company:

1. Select suppliers who have a history in the industry and have experienced QA engineers, both in manual and automated testing.
2. Select a partner with updates that are easy to read, who works with such tools as Jira or Slack, and clarifications or delays are absent.
3. Select vendors that have existing automation frameworks, reusable scripts, and CI/CD integration to test faster.
4. Collaborate with partners who communicate their costs initially, and there are no hidden charges or unspecified bills.

Why Red Star Technologies is the Right Partner for Outsourcing SQA

Red Star Technologies is a reliable Software Quality Assurance outsourcing company. Our team is experienced in numerous industries such as finance, healthcare, SaaS, and e-commerce. We apply the tools of modern automation like Selenium, Cypress, and Appium. This assists in saving time and accelerating testing. We are scalable and adaptable to your requirements.

We ensure that there is clear and daily communication through applications such as Jira, Slack, or Teams. Security is paramount to us. We have no hidden charges in our pricing. At Red Star, we assist you in saving money, time and providing enhanced user experiences.

FAQs

1. What is Software Quality Assurance (SQA)?

Software Quality Assurance refers to ensuring software functionality as intended. It verifies bugs, errors, and performance problems prior to release. The aim is to provide a user-friendly and trustworthy product.

2. How does outsourcing QA save money?

Outsourcing QA saves the necessity to recruit and train a complete in-house team. You also save the expensive price of QA tools and infrastructure. This will enable you to only pay for the services that you require in testing, and still give quality.

3. Is outsourcing QA secure?

Yes, when you select the appropriate partner. Professional suppliers comply with international regulations such as ISO 27001 and are under strict NDAs. They safeguard your data by using secure mechanisms, access control, and adherence to industry standards.

4. Can outsourcing speed up software delivery?

QA outsourcing tends to be quicker. The teams around the world can work at various time zones, meaning that your product will be tested even when you are not at the office. This 24/7 cover reduces release cycles and maintains deadlines.

5. Why choose Red Star Technologies for software quality assurance?

Red Star Technologies has highly skilled testers, established automation systems, and clear pricing. We invest in precision and speed so that there are fewer bugs for your users. We assist you in saving money and maintaining the quality of the products.