{"id":11137,"date":"2019-04-04T19:35:27","date_gmt":"2019-04-04T19:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/abstracta.us\/blog\/?p=11137"},"modified":"2025-05-05T21:23:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T21:23:24","slug":"how-to-choose-a-software-testing-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abstracta.us\/blog\/software-testing\/how-to-choose-a-software-testing-company\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Choose a Software Testing Company"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Factors that will help you pick the right outsourced software testing company for you<\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Need some help with your test efforts and are evaluating different software testing outsourcing companies? Like all things worthwhile, it will take some effort to choose a software testing company that will enable you to achieve better business outcomes. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having been in the software testing outsourcing industry for over a decade, we have come to know the questions we should ask a prospective client and what questions they should ask us to know there is a good fit. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>For anyone doing research on software testing outsourcing or trying to compile a shortlist of software testing companies, these are some of the fundamental things to take into consideration to guide your search.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Know_Your_Criteria\"><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #00b674;\">Know Your Criteria<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Kind_of_Engagement_Are_You_Looking_For\"><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #3056a2;\">What Kind of Engagement Are You Looking For?<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You may be looking to hire a tester or team of testers for a short, one-off project, or augment your team or completely outsource all of your testing. All of these options will influence the duration of the potential relationship. Some software testing companies are used to doing small projects for one-time clients and others will be more selective, usually preferring not to take on short-term projects. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What kind of role do you want the testing company to take on? Do you want them to consult you and advise you on your test strategy or are you just looking for more \u201cplayers\u201d to join the team to carry out your own game plan? <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Make sure to have a good idea about:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <strong>duration<\/strong> of the relationship (short vs long term)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What <strong>engagement model<\/strong> you are looking for (staff augmentation vs managed testing)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Which <strong>type of services<\/strong> you need (test execution, consultation, etc)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Do_You_Need_in_a_Software_Testing_Company\"><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #3056a2;\">What Do You Need in a Software Testing Company?<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that you know what kind of engagement you are hoping to start, it\u2019s important to be clear on the most fundamental characteristics of your ideal software testing company:<\/span><\/p>\n<h4>Size<\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can find a software testing company consisting of just a couple of employees to several thousand. Is it an independent, pure-play boutique that you want to work with or a large outsourcing firm that offers several services besides just testing?<\/span><\/p>\n<h4>Location<\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Onshore, nearshore, or offshore?<\/strong> Do the testers need to be in the same office or city as you? What about country? Can they be in a nearby continent or halfway around the world? Each option will come with its own <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.accelerance.com\/blog\/software-development-onshore-offshore-and-nearshore-oh-my\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">price and level of quality<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<h4>Price Range<\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As mentioned above, the<strong> location will greatly influence the rate.<\/strong> For example, a tester in San Francisco will have much higher rates than a tester with the same qualifications in South America, Europe, or Asia. Additionally, the skill level of the tester(s) you are looking for will affect rates. If you want an expert in their field of testing, they will command higher rates, of course, than a junior tester. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[tweet_box design=&#8221;default&#8221; float=&#8221;none&#8221;]Keep in mind that when it comes down to it, you can only pick two: High quality, fast, and cheap.[\/tweet_box]<\/span><\/p>\n<h4>Cultural\u00a0Compatability<\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do the<strong> testing company\u2019s values align with yours<\/strong>? Do they have them written somewhere? (Check out our <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/abstracta.us\/blog\/culture\/abstracta-manifesto\/\">Manifesto<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">!) How do they treat their employees? What about their preferred communication style and collaboration? Do they work in the same context as you (like Agile)? <\/span><\/p>\n<h4>Communication<\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do the testers in the outsourcing company <strong>speak your language<\/strong> fluently? Are they able to communicate quickly or in real time with you? How much of a lag in communication can you handle?<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Evaluate_the_Potential_Fit\"><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #00b674;\">Evaluate the Potential Fit<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you\u2019ve given the previous questions some consideration and you\u2019ve found some companies that meet your criteria, it\u2019s time to narrow down the list with the following considerations.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Makes_Them_Unique\"><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #3056a2;\">What Makes Them Unique?<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Can you tell what makes the company different from others? <strong>Does their offering speak to you and your needs?<\/strong> Do they care about the same things as you do? Some testing companies may focus on providing the cheapest rates and fastest turnaround, while others may emphasize their ability to work in Agile contexts, or maybe some are better at certain types of testing, like security testing, than others. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, at Abstracta, what makes us unique is that we are a group of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">developers who believe in testing. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We place heavy emphasis on introducing sophisticated engineering and automation processes into testing and the software development life cycle in order to increase product quality and reduce time to market for our clients.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_Others_Have_to_Say\"><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #3056a2;\">What Others Have to Say<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How often do you try a new restaurant without first checking its Google or Yelp reviews? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If we are that careful when it comes to who prepares our food, then we definitely need to be careful about who is testing our software! It\u2019s always important to look for any social proof that can be found for each company. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First, you should be able to <strong>find testimonials and reviews<\/strong> on the company\u2019s own website, but don\u2019t forget to then move onto other third-party review sites like Clutch.co or <a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@ekaterina.osad93\/top-20-software-testing-companies-89efc7ab8975\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">find relevant articles<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clutch is a highly reputable <\/span><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/clutch.co\/developers\/testing\/leaders-matrix\">review site for software testing providers<\/a><\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> as the process for leaving a review is lengthy and requires more effort than your average review site, which helps to ensure that each review is legitimate. Clutch even manually verifies each review before publishing it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Testing_Specialties_and_Domain_Expertise\"><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #3056a2;\">Testing Specialties and Domain Expertise<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not all software is the same. The risks, technologies, and\u00a0timelines that teams deal with vary greatly by business and industry. For example, software used for healthcare requires (amongst many things) an understanding of compliance issues and extensive security testing. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Check to see if the software testing company has experience working for organizations that are similar to yours<\/strong> or from the same sector for added confidence in their capabilities.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Furthermore, maybe your aim is to hire a company to help you build a test automation framework. Do some digging to see if they have any case studies that show they have done it in the past. You can look on their website, or again, read the case study style reviews on Clutch.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are many areas of testing, so most testing companies will have strengths in different ones. If a company professes to be 100% experienced in testing for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/abstracta.us\/blog\/software-testing\/software-testing-wheel\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">all aspects of software quality<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, run! \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Technology_and_Toolbelt\"><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #3056a2;\">Technology and Toolbelt<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Something not to forget is to check or ask the company directly if they have <strong>experience with the testing tools you use<\/strong>. If you\u2019re unsure about which to use, ask if they can do an assessment and give you a good recommendation. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s unrealistic for a testing company to have knowledge of every single testing tool on the market but, keep this in mind:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[tweet_box design=&#8221;default&#8221; float=&#8221;none&#8221;]\u201cThe tester is more important than the tool because at the end of the day, the tool is just that, a tool. The actual work is done by the human behind it.&#8221;[\/tweet_box]<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fortunately, if a tester has experience, for example, with one kind of cross browser testing tool, it will not be too difficult for them to learn how to use another.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Bonus_Qualities_to_Look_for_in_a_Testing_Company\"><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #3056a2;\">Bonus Qualities to Look for in a Testing Company<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So far, we have listed quite a lot of considerations for your search. If you want to be even more selective, here are some additional <strong>things to look for in a good testing company:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Investment in research and development of testing tools and contributions to the open source community<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leaders who speak at conferences and share their knowledge with the community<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Organization of their own meetups and\/or conferences<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Philanthropy (participation in non-profit organizations, days for giving back, etc)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sophisticated and highly selective recruitment process<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ample employee training opportunities and career planning<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Multiple, strategic locations<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Flexibility to travel for in-person onboardings, training, workshops, etc<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the end, this is not an exhaustive list of questions and considerations, but I hope it helps you know how to choose a software testing company that is best for you.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"More_Resources\"><\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #00b674;\">More Resources<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are still curious about how a software testing partner can work with you, my colleague wrote a post that I highly recommend, \u201c<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/abstracta.us\/blog\/software-testing\/getting-started-outsourced-software-testing\/\">Getting Started with Outsourced Software Testing<\/a><\/strong>\u201d, as well as this one &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/The CTO\u2019s Guide to Outsourcing Software Testing\" data-wplink-url-error=\"true\"><strong>The CTO\u2019s Guide to Outsourcing Software Testing<\/strong><\/a>&#8220;.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!-- Go to www.addthis.com\/dashboard to customize your tools --><script src=\"\/\/s7.addthis.com\/js\/300\/addthis_widget.js#pubid=ra-58d80a50fc4f926d\" type=\"text\/javascript\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Factors that will help you pick the right outsourced software testing company for you Need some help with your test efforts and are evaluating different software testing outsourcing companies? Like all things worthwhile, it will take some effort to choose a software testing company that&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[178,80,81],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v14.0.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Choose a Software Testing Company | Abstracta<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Are you compiling a list of potential software quality partners? 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