Why Use External Testers

In the modern organisation, IT is intrinsic to most of what goes on. From a laptop running MS products, to the multitude of systems used by a corporate, the need for software testing is growing as the uptake of IT solutions to resolve our business needs increases. The testing department is coming under increasing demand to become involved in ever increasing volumes of projects. If the volume of work were static the problem would be more easily resolved with additional resources being employed. The situation that presents most test departments is far from a balanced flow of work.

Lots of businesses have particular times during the calendar year where the volume of project activity increases. For some retailers this would be Christmas, for companies involved in education it could be the start of a term, but the pressures come in peaks and troughs. A test department may be able to cope with some periodic increase in demand but may find itself in a situation where it is perceived as a bottleneck to the desired throughput of projects. This reflects badly on the department and can be avoided by bring in external testers.

By understanding the flow of work coming through the department and plotting this over the year ahead (if possible), the size of the core team can be understood. The core team is the size of team required at the lowest point of utilisation. External testers are then used to deal with the demand for resource over and above the core team, covering the peaks of activity. The external testers can be employed for the duration of the peak and then released, dropping the team back to it’s core size.

Recruitment of good quality test resources is becoming increasingly difficult. Less people are leaving university with IT related degrees in this country. Numbers which are a couple of years old suggested that there were only 30,000 per annum in the UK and the number was dropping, where as in India the number was 500,000 and increasing. The cost of recruitment is also prohibitive and can be avoided by use of external resources. If activities can be performed offsite, then some of the additional overheads of Resourcing in terms of phones, computers, desk space, HR and training can be avoided, making the use of some external resources here in the UK, cheaper than employing them. Cost is an ever present consideration and if external resources can be used and released as is required, provide the right level of expertise and be utilised offsite then these factors begin to form a really strong case for the use of the external tester.

Flexibility is key to the way we work and the supplier of external test resources that can provide this at a price which is competitive compared to employment, are worthy of consideration.