How to simplify software development when outsourcing?

Software development in outsourcing can bring to stress. Information Systems Engineer Brad Irby offers six steps to approach development without difficulty.

“I worked in the field of quality control and development. By negotiating a test period, you not only get the cost of the service, you also get the opportunity to find out the company itself and see if the team’s meeting the deadlines and in general, whether it behaves professionally.
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Step 1. Demo

Before signing a contract for the provision of services, offer your ideas on software outsourcing in the form of a demo application. The team should be ready to impress you, so listen to what questions they ask and what ideas they have about how to check everything. Be prepared to hear sample questions or signs that they are just reading the script. If they try to dig into the details in the demo, this is a good sign, they will do the same and later. You will learn a lot about their competence by listening to what they are doing and not asking.

Step 2. Ask about automated tools.

Quality control consists of a combination of routine and research elements. Existing regression testing tests, which, in theory, should not change, will confirm that nothing accidentally broke during the introduction of changes. Regression testing is useful in an automation context, because the same actions and checks need to be done over and over. Paying a person for this job is a waste and a mistake, so the service provider must have automated testing tools to do the job.

These automated tools need to be something more than just a quick way to enter data into an error database. Software packages such as Selenium allow quality control teams to write code that runs the application and interacts with it as a user. The program can press buttons, enter data, select various options, and then read from the screen to make sure that the proper answers are given. It is important to know which tool the quality control team uses, because your application developers can slightly change the software during work to make the automated testing process easier and more productive.

Step 3. Organization of the base of errors

The company to which you decide to outsource software development will probably suggest that you use their error database, and even present it as an advantage of doing business with them. Agreeing to this would be a mistake. Information about bugs found and how they are corrected is vital for you, so you should not allow anyone to manage it. Getting your own online error database is as easy as entering a credit card number. Just look for the "hosting error database" and you will find many options. If you have no preferences, or no time to do research and find out which one is better, ask your outsourcing partner who uses it.

Step 4. Training

Do not fall prey to the “curse of knowledge.” You thought and worked with the application for some time, so, of course, it seems obvious to you what it should be and how not. This is not so obvious to others. Take the time to train the outsourcing team correctly on how the application should work. Part of this preparation is a story about what should not happen. Expect frequent or common mistakes and tell the quality team how to track them.

But do not expect that all this will be done immediately. This is a continuous process, so take the time to do it right.

Step 5. Start testing

It's time to start testing. Send the quality control credentials to your bug tracking service and give them a general direction. Initially, test in a small area, and they will be able to finish within a week, and then allow them to work at full strength.

When they inject bugs into a bug tracker, you can check their progress to make sure they are focused on the right things.

Step 6. Internal parallel testing

The complete transfer of the entire quality control team is difficult and dangerous. There should be some kind of internal control so that nothing escapes attention. When you gain confidence in the external team, parallel testing can be abandoned in favor of one person, but it is unwise to allow the outsourcing team to fully control the quality of the project.

Parallel testing has another advantage - it identifies additional training needs of the outsourcing team. Registering bugs that are not valid (i.e., the application works correctly) means that they do not understand the scope of application.

With all this in mind, it is important that the external team and the internal team get along with each other. Let your internal team help with the selection of the outsourcing team so that they can all work comfortably together. ”

Posted by: Brad Irby
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