Software testing outsourcing

Software Testing Outsourcing is software testing carried out by an independent company or a group of people not directly involved in the process of software development.

Software testing is an essential phase of software development, however it is often viewed as a non-core activity for most organisations. Outsourcing enables an organisation to concentrate on its core development activities while external software testing experts handle the independent validation work. This offers many business benefits which include independent assessment leading to enhanced delivery confidence, reduced time to market, lower infrastructure investment, predictable software quality, de-risking of deadlines and increased time to focus on development.

Software Testing Outsourcing can come in different forms:

• Full outsourcing, insourcing or remote insourcing of the entire test process (strategy, planning, execution and closure), often referred to as a Managed Testing Service or dedicated testing teams.
• Provision of additional resources for major projects
• One-off test often related to load, stress or performance testing
• Beta User Acceptance Testing. Utilising specialist focus groups coordinated by an external organisation

Top established global outsourcing cities

According to Tholons Global Services - Top 50, in 2009, Top Established and Emerging Global Outsourcing Cities in Testing function were:

1. Chennai, India
2. Cebu City, Philippines
3. Shanghai, China
4. Beijing, China
5. Kraków, Poland
6. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Top Emerging Global Outsourcing Cities

1. Chennai
2. Bucharest
3. São Paulo
4. Cairo

Cities were benchmark against six categories included: skills and scalability, savings, business environment, operational environment, business risk and non-business environment.

Vietnam outsourcing

Vietnam has become a major player in software outsourcing. Ho Chi Minh City's ability to meet clients’ needs in scale and capacity, its maturing business environment, the country’s stability in political and labor conditions, its increasing number of English speakers and its high service-level maturity make it attractive to foreign interests.

Vietnam's software industry has maintained annual growth rate of 30-50% during the past 10 years. From 2002 to 2013 revenue of the software industry increased to nearly 3 US$ billion and the hardware industry increased to 36.8 US$ billion. Many Vietnamese enterprises have been granted international certificates (CMM) for their software development.

Argentina outsourcing

Argentina’s software industry has experienced an exponential growth in the last decade, positioning itself as one of the strategic economic activities in the country. As Argentina is just one hour ahead of North America's east coast, communication takes place in real time. Argentina’s Internet culture and industry is one of the best, Facebook penetration in Argentina ranks 3rd worldwide and the country has the highest penetration of smart phones in Latin America (24%). Perhaps one of the most surprising facts is that the percentage that internet contributes to Argentina’s Gross National Product (2.2%) ranks 10th in the world.