One of the primary differentiators between an average and a great product, is the extra attention that is paid to the quality of a product. Software Quality Assurance (QA) encompasses all aspects of the product’s functioning whether it is the user interface, user experience, application functionality and features, application performance or application security.

QA can be a daunting task especially when you have a product that evolves rapidly, a fast-growing customer-base and high criticality for new features to reach the market in time. In such scenarios, it would serve you well to have help at hand with a dedicated offshore QA team – a team that extends, complements and supports the operations of your onshore team.

So what exactly is an Offshore QA team and how can it help you? Read on to find out more.

An offshore team is an extension of your team but based out of a separate location. The team is provided to you by a vendor, who also provides the infrastructure and setup required by the team to carry out day-to-day work operations. An offshore QA team, comprising of highly skilled and experienced QA professionals, can work seamlessly with your development/onshore teams to continuously test and improve the quality of your software. Offshoring QA can be one of the best ways to produce the best quality output at a faster pace and at the most affordable rates.

A good offshore QA team will

• Quickly understand and attain familiarity with your product line, business domain and way of working
• Participate in quality assurance activities starting early on in the SDLC until the end.
• Effectively liaise with all project stakeholders to facilitate end-to-end QA operations
• Bring the best of skills, domain knowledge and experience to the table
• Carry out industry-standard QA processes for all phases of your project
• Is professional, well-managed and transparent
• Is efficient and cost-effective

Here are some points you may want to consider before choosing an offshore software development company for your organization:

Engagement Models

• Extension of local team (OR) Independent team
• Fixed Bid or T&M
• Fully offshore, hybrid or global team

Coverage of Testing:

• End-to-end system and application testing
• Functional and Non-functional Requirements testing
• User Experience and Usability Testing
• Regulatory Compliance and Security Testing
• Performance Testing

Types of Testing (per release cycle)

• Unit Testing
• Integration Testing
• Smoke Testing
• Sanity Testing
• Regression Testing

Specialties, Skillsets and Experience

• Mobile and Web Apps
• Manual and Automation Testing
• Cross-device and Cross-browser Testing
• Compatibility Testing
• Release and Deployment Readiness Testing
• Domain Experience (healthcare, retail, hospitality and more)
• Hands-on ability with standard bug-tracker tools and testing software

Additional Support

• Build and Release Management
• Release Notes and QA Documentation
• UAT and Production Phase support

Weighing out which of the above such QA considerations are important for your product and organization, can help you make a good choice of a vendor that can provide you a ‘best-fit’ team and engagement model to carry out testing activities.

To summarize, here some of the top benefits of having the right offshore QA arm to complement your onshore team

• Enhanced product quality
• Reduced costs of QA
• Maximizing the time in a work day
• Shorter time-to-market
• 3^rd party validation of product quality
• Professionally managed and executed QA services
• Flexible team-sizing
• Reduced headhunting and hiring costs

Think your organization could use some QA services? Leverage BTC’s Quality-as-a-Service offering to ensure you have the necessary quality assessment done to hit the market shelves with confidence, establish your brand and inspire customer loyalty. Get in touch with us NOW to learn how we can help you with the offshore model that fits you best!