The quality of a product does not depend on coding standards, software specifications, or version control but in the hands of the people who analyze, test and document. This is where Quality Assurance or QA comes into fore. This process is a complex technical activities that performs verification that a product matches the project requirements and the company standards

Quality Assurance is often not considered as a major ally in a software development organization, especially if it's on shoestring budget. Most software companies would prefer to have a programmer rather than a QA professional if they need to implement or add features to the software.

Neglecting the need of a QA, certain clients develop software and upon release to its first customers would note the package is not bug free. It was noted that the individual programmer was good but what made this a lousy program; the entire system needed testing before the software was released.

The clients later realize that releasing software without a broad testing would be a major failure. The customer would not tolerate those missing data, confusing behavior or unexpected error messages. This could raise the question on the credibility of the software engineer, who only does unit testing of their code; they do not test the entire application for its flows. It isn't considered a creative or challenging to them. Accordingly, this leads to the development of mediocre software and unhappy users.

Outsourcing is the next best solution to the problem of nonexistent QA. Surprising most do not know that QA can even be outsourced. Outsourcing your QA can be termed as a first step to taking advantage of low-cost offshore resources.

Why QA can be a good thing to start with outsourcing is because one do not need to reveal any source code. Just deliver a binary version of your software for installation and testing by your outsourced QA team.

Client can avoid outsourcing too much at one go. They can choose from the various type of testing for example, Requirements testing, Usability testing, Load or stress testing, Regression testing and Environment testing. This will give you the biggest benefit. For example, regression testing may be useful because you can use that yourself after they're developed by the service provider's QA. On the other hand, environment testing requires a large number of test cases, and the affordable way to get it done is outsourcing.

So basically it has to be understood that QA is an important factor in the software development process. Starting on small software project can be satisfying with minimum or no bugs, but as the complexity grows QA factor has to be added either by outsourcing or by internal team.

When large and complex software project are taken it is important to plan for professional QA as part of the effort. If the factor is overlooked, you run the risk of making a bad first impression and losing at the early steps of outsourcing business. This is a case where outsourcing may be just the right thing for you to latch on and gain from it.

Source : offshoringtimes