Why do we test something? Well to see if the ‘something’ in question is up to the mark or not. The same applies for software which before launching in the market is necessary to test. This is in order to ensure its functioning, accuracy and simplicity of the system.
Software developing companies hire software testing companies like any other outsourcing service as they are experts in ensuring that a software system runs flawlessly and measures up to all the essential quality criteria put into place. But what is the criteria, based on which we hire a software testing company?
We shall discuss this in the following sections. But first let us understand, what is software testing?
Software Testing:-
It is an investigation which is conducted to provide information about the quality of the software. It is done to assure that the software is working as expected.
There are two ways of doing software testing:-
Black box software testing done by professional testers qualified for the job.
White box software testing done by non-technical end-users.
Software Testing Company:-
It is an organization that conducts software testing for different companies or business entities.
So now, in the following section, we will discuss the points that should be considered while hiring a software testing company.
1. Experience:-
It is one of the most important aspects that should be considered while hiring a software testing company. you should check whether the company has any experience in software testing or not. To do so, you can check or read their portfolio and by going through their past experiences. Some parameters on which you can rate the company’s experience are Parameters of coding, usability, the performance delivered, design and marketing, load balancing capabilities etc.
2. Qualification:-
However qualification plays a vital role in selecting the software testing company, but it is not necessary that a more qualified outsourcing company will give you the better result. The things that matter is the innovative ideas, the capability of the team and of course the qualification as well. So, before hiring a company the criteria of qualification is also need to be considered. You should give your project to the company who have a team of well-qualified professionals.
3. Coding Standards & Framework:-
Before hiring a software testing company you should assure that the company and the team should have a sound knowledge of programming language and tools related to software testing. The company having the more structured framework and an organized coding system will have the better code maintainability compared to others.
4. The Extent of Service:-
It is another important point that needs to be considered before hiring a software testing company. It is very important to see the extension or the scope of the services rendered by the company as it will help you in the long run. You should assure that the company is providing you with all the steps of software development lifecycle.
5. Team Location:-
It is another important question that comes to the mind while selecting a software testing company. The question is whether you should choose an offshore company or a company in the same country?
The overseas company can provide you the high-quality service but at the same time, there can be an issue of communication barriers, language issue, cultural differences etc. So, if you are choosing an international company, make sure that they are able to beat these barriers.
6. Service Level Agreement:-
It is an agreement or a contract signed between both the parties i.e. the service provider and the client. the SLAs defines the output expected from the service provider. It is very important to define the SLAs between both the parties to ensure 100% alignment of goals settled between both the parties.
Some key points that your SLA must have are:-
- Knowledge transfer
- core business know-how
- Process compliance
- Timelines of reporting and project management
- Quality measures etc.
7. Flexibility and Scalability:-
There should be flexibility in the services provided by the software testing company or an outsourcing company. It should be decided by examining the factors such as modifiability, ease of exit, robustness, new capability etc. Outsourcing contracts demand a degree of mouldability to ensure that the timescale fluctuations are met.
8. Quality Improvement:-
It is one of the primary objective of the client to achieve a remarkable quality improvement through outsourcing a software testing company. As the agreement comes to an end, the working method and process tried to improve continually. Eventually, the target should be the overall improvement of the end product.
9. Intellectual Property Protection:-
It is one of the important aspects to be taken care while outsourcing the services. IP refers to the creation of mind like inventions, designs, artistic work, and symbol etc. used in commerce. It is one of the biggest challenges to protect the IP of business when it is outsourced.
10. Security:-
When you hire a software testing company, security is the most important aspect that needs to take care. The software must be having the information about the company that should not be disclosed to everyone. So, a business should choose the company which provides security to the software.
11. Testing Infrastructure:-
It refers to the tools and techniques that are required for software testing. Before hiring a software testing company you should make sure the service provider must have all the required infrastructure to support your software or product. The testing infrastructure includes software, hardware, operating system, backend database systems, testing tools, platforms etc.
12. Management Style:-
Management plays an important role in software testing. So before hiring a software testing company, you should make sure that the managerial style of your company is compatible with the service provider. It is important that both should have a same managerial language which will help them work together.
13. Responsibility and Accountability:-
Responsibility and accountability should go together. The software testing company you are hiring must be responsible and should be one who can take the accountability also. You would love to work with the company who is ready to take the responsibility and the accountability as well.
14. Cost of Working:-
After accessing the company on the above-mentioned parameters, you should decide the true cost of working with them. You should choose the outsourcing company which provides you the maximum ROI in terms of quality, overall value addition, and timely delivery.
15. Documentation Standards:-
Before hiring a software testing company, you should make sure that the company should have all the required documentation standard you need. Some of the documents are; test plans, scripts, test plans, test scenarios and test results etc. You should make sure that the company you are hiring should be well documented and you have easy access to the documents.
Final Thought
Today, software testing is the need of almost every software project or company. For conducting a software test we need to hire or outsource a software testing company who fulfill all the above-mentioned parameters or aspects. The main motive of outsourcing a software testing company is to get the quality work at a reasonable cost. Another reason for outsourcing the company is that the organization hiring the software testing company can focus on its core business area.