Outsourced testing vs. Crowdsource testing

And why outsourced testing is a better solution for software companies.

WHAT’S THE HARM IN CROWDSOURCING?

Is it really wise idea to use crowdsourcing? What is the quality of crowdsourcing services?
So what is the difference between outsourcing and crowdsourcing? With outsourcing you elect one company to do the job, while with crowdsourcing everybody who can join can take the part.
As with all things, there are disadvantages, and interestingly the main minus mirrors the main plus: cheap labor results less accurate product, compared to professionals. You pay professionals for their expertise, experience and dedicated work. At all events, any task considered above simple is risky for crowdsourcing.
With the crowdsourcing also comes the issue of management. In most cases you have to manage a large scale of workers, which pretty much waste more of your time for management instead of solution. Besides, it’s difficult for crowd members to play team work as they compete with each other in nature. Worst of all, there’s no reliable contract in most crowdsourcing cases. Crowdsourcing is best suited for simple tasks, and software testing isn’t one of them.

Cons #1: Lack of confidentiality

This is the deadliest downfall of crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing usually involves a group of people who are unknown to you. Owing to the risk of confidential information getting to your competitors, there are usually details about the problem, your coding, or the technology that you must keep hidden. You can’t feel confident that you know who they are, where they are from, or for whom they work.

Pros of QA Madness #1

Confidentiality is very important in outsourcing. We have high standards in maintaining confidentiality and we have a reputation as a trustworthy outsourcing company. Confidentiality obligations are a fundamental part of all agreements between QA Madness and our clients. We always sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement at a client’s first request and strictly adhere to it indeed.

Cons #2: Lack of communication.

Even a successful campaign may backfire owing to a lack of communication with the crowd that works for you. Because you are reaching out to a group of people that you don’t know very well – and in many cases a lot of them, it becomes very difficult to communicate with all of these participants in a meaningful way, to receive a meaningful feedback from them.
In a typical crowdsourcing scheme, no matter how well your statement about your problem is framed, the result is still a one-sided conversation, where you are pushing information out to participants, with very little actual dialogue. All of this potentially adds up to a waste of time and money.

Pros of QA Madness #2

Most often, customers are expecting companies respond to their needs quickly and to communicate with them in meaningful and relevant ways. A partner like QA Madness, where the testers are from the same workplace and share the same company’s traditions, can create personalized communications with the customer that can build loyal and alive relationships.

Cons #3: Lack of quality

Crowdsourced testers who are compensated based on the number of bugs detected by them, may detect a larger number of less serious bugs while skipping over more critical or harder to fix bugs.
In additional, they may not know much about the software testing industry and don’t take the time to learn about it. You can’t be sure about their qualification and experience.

Pros of QA Madness #3

Most of the times tasks are outsourced to professionals who specialize in their field.
Outsourcing companies like QA Madness, that already have a wide-range of experience in software testing field by working with a leading companies all over the world, offer high-quality services for the reasonable price. We always complete our work on time and in the best possible way.
QA Madness has specific equipment and technical expertise, a variety of devices, operating systems, carriers and more. We fully concentrated on the testing, so the tasks can be completed faster and with better quality output.

Cons #4: Hidden costs.

Crowdsourcing appears as a cheap option to complete some work, but there are hidden costs. For example, Legal risks like IP Infringement can lead to increase in costs. In case of poor quality of crowdsourced projects, the most costly and exhausting thing would be to find and fix the all bugs that unknown tester is missed.

Pros of QA Madness #4

To exclude any possibilities for appearance of hidden cost in outcome, our work with clients is usually based on:

• Fixed price – before to start, we will discuss the scale of the work, set up all the details, fixed-price budget and timelines for the project.
• Output Based Pricing – the price will be based for the time actually spent to complete testing.
• Dedicated Team – the price is determined by long-term partnership, which presented by dedicated QA team works on your project 5/7, 8/24.

So that you may choose the most convenient way for your business.
The bottom line is, it’s important to know the differences between them to know which one fits your needs best. We believe that outsourcing offerings have the real importance and more possibilities for your businesses. It’s your choice to make.
At all events, QA Madness is one of the best software testing company. We know software testing inside out and we good at it.