For Outsourced Testing it is only the Beginning

Functional, Performance, user experience and automation lead the curve

There were days when only development and maintenance was looked at as the pivot for outsourcing. Today the value proposition for applications outsourcing is broadening beyond the core of maintenance and development to encompass testing of applications in a much bigger way. 

Functional testing is something that is most outsourced - overall, depending on client, up to 80% of functional testing can be offshore. This is primarily because of the nature of this type of testing wherein activities that verify a specific action or function of the code are only involved. Most organizations are comfortable outsourcing this today in a big way. Functional Testing includes both manual and automated testing. 

The second most important peg in the outsourcing picture is specialized testing services. This includes performance testing and user experience testing services. 

Needless to mention one of the prime reasons for outsourced testing to mature is more satisfied customers. With more and more satisfied customers despite economic ups and downs, firms continue to rely and invest in applications testing outsourcing services. While the reason is also that customers benefit from a lower cost per head than they could achieve using internal resources this is not the reason anymore. The reason customers outsource testing is improved software quality. Period.