Is Acquiring Testing Services from Offshore Teams a Good Idea?

When we use the term offshore testing services normally it haunts us. Why? Because this term simply depicts the tradeoff between quality and cost. Leveraging quality over cost is often considered to be synonymous with the term’ Offshore Testing service”. The rise in acquiring services from offshore teams took place in the 1990s when organizations used to refer distributed teams for their business operations. These types of offshore testing services are common and are in trend now to minimize the costs while saving a heap of time. Cheap and fast methods of communicating with the world, coupled with increasing pressure on companies to "tighten their belts" and save money, continue to promote this popular movement. Offshore testing and quality assurance are now offered as "no problem" solutions. Indeed, when quality services cannot be provided, sending tests and quality services overseas is both practical and tempting.

An offshore testing company tries to provide expert services as per the requirements of a specific business but still, a trust factor is there that restricts many organizations to go for offshore testing services. However, even after many years, there is still controversy about whether offshore outsourcing provides customers with value for money.

Besides, it is very problematic and it becomes very difficult to not have a team internally or even in the same country. It is safe to say that a person physically located in your office means that they will know what is going on and can easily change direction because they usually already agree with the company’s culture and ideas.

Is offshoring software testing a bad idea?

There is no clear-cut answer to this question because every organization or business has a different set of requirements and principles. However, it is quite safe to say that, like the development department, the offshore testing team has made considerable progress in recent years and is still a viable option. If everyone has the option of choosing a premium, then there is no doubt that there will be many Rolls-Royce drivers. Similarly, in the automotive industry, many manufacturers known for developing low-quality products have listened, learned, and grown from mistakes to household brands. The offshore testing team has also learned from experience and continues to improve its products quickly.

If you are still choosing the offshore software testing model for your testing purposes then do consider the following ways to mitigate risks involved in it;

A friendly relationship between both parties - Make sure that the offshore software testing team is empowered enough to come up with unique, healthy, and creative ideas and strategies, this way a close and friendly relationship could be made possible between both parties. And subsequently, testing will be as effective as possible.

Leadership at both ends of the spectrum - If efforts of testing will be completely managed by inhouse teams or vice versa, it will create communication gaps, and thereby a testing process will take place that not meets the business requirements. It is recommended for leaders of both parties to spend some time together to resolve these communication issues.

Good techniques for communication - Although it’s challenging to have deep and open conversations over audio calls this has also been made easy with the video conferencing solutions. Effective telephone methods and an understanding of offshore team culture are also crucial. Many offshore teams are sometimes unwilling to volunteer their ideas and ideas. As a leader, you need to give them opportunities and encouragement.

Make full use of parallel time - The prime time for the onshore and offshore teams to work together is the best time to solve the problems that arose the night before. Make sure to hold a regular meeting during this period to discuss any issues and questions, and confirm that the two teams are working together.

Ensure that there are sufficient resources with domain knowledge and testing knowledge - It's much harder to teach the team about new technologies without personally training the team, and even more difficult if they don't understand the area you want to test. Although it is impossible for all team members to be experienced, it is impossible to make the transition of knowledge happen quickly by ensuring that there is a core team.

Conclusion

It is of no doubt to claim that with an appropriate approach, effective communication, and team collaboration you can get the most out of your offshore testing services that will comply with your business requirements.