Key Factors for choosing a testing vendor

Ability to communicate: QA organization are like a central place where all information comes and go. Hence, they should to be able to articulate about all the information that is coming in and try to give it back to different types of people. So, the most important skill a software/application tester needs to have high levels of communication skills. Being a quality assurance manager, the testing vendor need to communicate to the developer, product manager, product designer, of even CEO. So, he or she should have the ability to communicate with different layers of the organization.

Ability to think: Another important skill that a testing vendor should have is his/her ability to think. He/she should acknowledge the fact that testing is not about checking and ticking boxes. Instead, it is about thinking and asking a question what is the problem. The testing vendor should have great analytical skills. They should be able to think and learn and interact with their products so that they can provide valuable information to their stakeholders. The ideal candidate must possess ‘out-of-the-box' thinking and have the capacity to discuss emerging trends in the market.

Ability to learn together: In this evolutionary era, you get new applications coming through as a test. Therefore, a professional testing vendor should be able to understand what are the features, functionalities and requirements of the new products. This involves continuous learning requirement. A tester should not have only one skill for a certain job i nstead, he/she has to have many skills to do his/her job properly. Apart from just testing your software, he/she should be able enough to recommend you the best approaches to carryout the project. Below are some of the key factors that you need to adopt prior to the selection process of a software testing vendor or company, because once you select the vendor of your choice; there are many other features and functionality at a technical level that you'll need to discuss with him or her.

Do your research: Before selecting any software testing company or QA partner, it is highly recommended that you perform some research online and offline about some of the vendors within your geographic location as well as nationwide; that provide the necessary services and have the required capability to cater for your particular needs. When shortlisting the qualified vendors, make sure that you select some well-established firms who have sufficient business experience in the field of testing and quality assurance services.

Do not stick to just one vendor: Consider at least three to five different vendors. You may have one in mind as your favorite but you never know what the others have to offer. Therefore, we recommend you to select at least three to five vendors, who are the true representation of various competitive firms out there for the solutions that you are looking for.

Allocate enough time to selection process: Also make sure that you allocate enough time both for yourself as well as for potentially the team, that you provide the guidance and selection process itself. Doing the evaluation takes time. Sometimes it may take several weeks to evaluate a small number of vendors to determine which one you should go with. You should not rush that process and should take the necessary time required to do a proper evaluation.

Consider the type of outsourcing: There are many different types of outsourcing. There could be on shore that can be on site or there can be near shore or offshore outsourcing. You should keep in mind what type of outsourcing, you're planning on doing way ahead of the selection process and get your management team on board with that.

Take care of their time zones: If you have reached out to other countries for testing services, which apparently are located at different time zones, then it can sometime become challenging to collaborate. It can also be great, because when you are sleeping in the United States or Russia, other people in other countries are working so it creates a virtual twenty-four-hour-a-day type of development cycle. One of the things that you need to consider when working with the testing vendors that are physically located at different time zones and could be working as far away as on the other side of the planet is the quality of those resources.

Consider the reputation of your testing partner: Before making any decision about selecting a testing partner, it is imperative that you consider his/her standing & credibility in the market. Try to get reference from their previous clients to assess their area of expertise and level of skills.