How to Ensure Quality Assurance in Outsourced Development

Outsourcing term has recently been discussed a lot by businesses and entrepreneurs. As a business leader, keeping abreast of the current outsourcing trends will help you navigate the outsourcing ecosystem and adapt to the new normal of the post-pandemic world.?

In this article, we will discuss the ways to help you ensure quality assurance in outsourced development as well as enhance the quality assurance process for your outsourced development project and increase the likelihood of achieving a successful outcome that meets your requirements.

Vendor Selection?

You need to start by choosing a reliable and experienced outsourcing vendor as well as looking for vendors with a track record of delivering high-quality products and services.?

Moreover, you should check references, read reviews, and evaluate their previous work to ensure their capabilities align with your project's requirements. A vendor's alignment with your project's goals, values, and quality standards is paramount to successful QA outsourcing.

Clear Requirements

Obviously, your business should provide detailed and clear requirements documentation to the outsourcing team. In addition, ambiguity in requirements can lead to misunderstandings and deviations from your expectations. By investing time and effort into developing comprehensive requirements, you set the stage for a smoother outsourcing process and better outcomes.

Besides, you should draft a comprehensive contract that outlines the project scope, requirements, timelines, quality standards, milestones, payment terms, and dispute resolution mechanisms. A well-defined contract helps set expectations and provides a legal framework for quality assurance.

Regular Communication?

Regular communication is a key factor in the success of any outsourcing arrangement, including software development and quality assurance. Businesses should maintain open and regular communication with the outsourcing team, and use various communication channels like video calls, emails, and project management tools to discuss progress, address concerns, and clarify any questions.

Regular communication helps manage expectations, track progress, address issues, and build strong working relationships between your organization and the outsourcing vendor. Through consistent and effective communication, you can navigate the challenges of outsourcing more smoothly and achieve the desired outcomes.

Collaborative Tools?

Collaborative tools play a crucial role in facilitating effective communication, coordination, and project management when outsourcing. Your businesses should use collaboration and project management tools to facilitate communication, monitor progress, and track changes. Tools like Jira, Trello, or Asana can help manage tasks, issues, and milestones effectively.?

In short, collaborative tools enhance the outsourcing process by promoting effective communication, enabling efficient project management, and fostering a collaborative environment between your organization and the outsourcing team. They contribute to a smoother workflow, better organization, and ultimately, better project outcomes.

Code Reviews

It is clear that code reviews help ensure that the code being produced meets the required quality standards. This is crucial for maintaining the overall quality of the software product, regardless of whether it's developed in-house or outsourced.?

In outsourcing, where you might not have direct control over the day-to-day development activities, code reviews act as a critical quality gate. You should ensure that the code being produced meets your quality standards, aligns with your requirements, and sets the foundation for a successful software product.?

Automated Testing?

Automated tests execute the same set of test cases consistently and accurately every time they run. This consistency is especially important when multiple teams are involved in the development process, as it ensures that the software is tested thoroughly and reliably.

Businesses should encourage the use of automated testing tools to validate the functionality of the software, for automated tests can quickly identify bugs, regressions, and performance issues.

Manual Testing

While automated testing offers efficiency and repeatability, manual testing complements it by providing a human perspective, addressing usability concerns, and handling unpredictable scenarios. The right balance between automated and manual testing is crucial for comprehensive quality assurance, especially in the context of outsourcing.

Combining automated testing with manual testing covers a wider range of scenarios. Therefore, manual testing can uncover user experience issues, edge cases, and other issues that automated tests might miss.

Continuous Monitoring

You should continuously monitor the project's progress and quality metrics throughout the development lifecycle. Because continuous monitoring helps you to detect issues and discrepancies in real-time. This early detection enables prompt action to address problems before they escalate.?

Furthermore, it provides visibility, accountability, and the ability to respond swiftly to changing circumstances. It safeguards project success, quality, and effective collaboration between your organization and the outsourcing team.

Escalation Plan

An escalation plan outlines the steps and hierarchy to follow when issues arise. This clarity prevents confusion and ensures that everyone knows how to escalate matters when necessary. Additionally, have a well-defined escalation plan in place for addressing issues that can't be resolved through regular communication. This plan should outline steps to take when critical quality or timeline concerns arise.

Indeed, an escalation plan is a proactive approach to handling issues and challenges that may arise during outsourcing. It promotes efficiency, accountability, and effective collaboration by providing a clear and organized path for problem resolution.

To summarize, IT Outsourcing plays an important role for businesses. Choosing whether to implement IT Outsourcing or not will depend on the needs and conditions of each business. Through the above article, hopefully, businesses will get an overview of the issues that businesses need to pay attention to before and during implementation.

BKPlus Software is a Vietnamese website design, software development, and IT outsourcing company. Contact us immediately for advice on IT outsourcing services and free support from technology experts.