This summer, we put out a quick 10-question survey regarding software development and outsourcing or contracting of testing services.
The intention of the survey was to use the responses to paint a picture of the attitude or approach towards outsourcing of testing in comparison to how organizations seek success for their projects and teams.
In general it was hoped that the responses might indicate that:
- Organizations were looking beyond hourly rates to the total value that was being delivered by contract service providers (eg: productivity, increased capability/capacity, organizational planning and execution improvements, bottom-line impact).
- Organizations were seeking solutions that: were more than just bodies to add to a project team; provided strategic thought leadership rather than just execution on assigned tasks; built a relationship with a partner specialized in delivering specific value-adds.
- Organizations were open to looking beyond the confines of their own offices to find much needed support such that not all of the team members needed to be co-located in order to be effective.
- Organizations were extracting the benefit of up-front thinking about risks and constraint trade-offs by investing into test strategy and effort estimation planning activities.
Not all of these expectations were fully supported in the responses, suggesting that there is still significant opportunity for improvement benefits. However the responses provided a picture of a stronger focus on quality and testing activities than would have been expected 10 years ago.
