Offshoring was introduced in software quality testing industry more than a decade ago. But in last 10 years, the necessity to outsource has increased exponentially along with the number of offshore companies who provide high quality testing solutions. Plenty of medium and small level companies are relying on offshore teams to test their products. Nowadays, it is not only about reporting functional defects in software; it is also about concentrating on adding value to business and software development life cycle inducing creativity to deliver quality. Earlier, it was more of a structured or documented approach; now the pendulum has swung to a new direction, i.e. Agile. Projects based on Agile model are in majority as compared to the ones based on other software models. Day to day strategies and test methods has been implemented on ongoing as well as new projects.

Introduction of faster communication media, like Skype, Team Viewer and other instant messengers, has come as an added bonus to the offshore industry to keep in constant touch with their onsite managers and clients. Rate of productivity, along with quality, has decisively increased in recent times. .

How, What, When: The future of offshore and outsourced software quality testing will be more inclined towards automated testing. Automated testing creates a big difference in any large project, as it cuts down manpower, conserves time and helps in maintaining quality. To survive in the cut throat competition, offshore software testing companies will have to incline towards high end technology with highly skilled and certified professionals. In todays business environment where expectations are high, companies must follow aggressive software testing models to lead in market. Nowadays, there is demand for talented and smart engineers, who can think out of the box and apply their own scenarios while testing a product, keeping the time constraint in mind. Neighboring countries of US and UK are practicing a new concept of nearshoring, which means hiring skilled professionals from these countries on a higher rate than the industries in Asian market. Nearshoring has not gained much attention because of higher rates and lesser number of skilled professionals.

Offshore and outsourced testing has a gleaming future, but one should remember, Cheaper isnt always better. At the end of the day, it is all about profit, and to gain profit, one should know how to save. Independent offshore testing services around the world help product based companies save a hefty amount of money. Although, not every company is into outsourcing; they believe in in-house work rather than hiring a third party. Worlds leading information technology research and advisory company, Gartner Research, has analyzed that outsourcing of software quality testing will increase in near future as companies have started understanding that such services are valuable assets for cost reduction and maintaining overall quality. If youve got money to pay, youll definitely find an outsourcing company which is willing to test and make your product bug free before its launch.