.jpg)
QA4U is one of the only software test labs in the United States that performs your testing here in the United States. Other QA vendors will send your project to be tested offshore where you will likely have to grapple with the following problems:
1) Offshore vendors are likely in the opposite time zone from you.
The time difference between California and Bangalore, for example, is 12.5 hours. That means that when you're working, they're sleeping, and vice-versa. This hinders communication, as you typically can't just pick up the phone and call them. If you work with offshore vendors and want them to join you on a conference call, you'd better plan on going in super early or staying super late on meeting days. How about having a project meeting at 7 or 8 PM your time? How about a 6 AM meeting? If you'd rather be able to just pick up the phone and talk to your QA vendor, QA4U is working when you are and we're just a phone call away.
2) Offshore vendors often speak English as a second language.
This may not sound like a big deal until you have to deal with it on an ongoing basis. And it's not just language differences, but cultural differences that become important. For example, an Indian graphics team was recently asked to draw an animated character with a "five o'clock shadow." This idiom doesn't exist in Indian culture, so the graphics team was stumped and a day of precious schedule was lost until the meaning of "five o'clock shadow" could be explained to them. Bug reports can be notoriously difficult to read, but when written by someone who doesn't speak English as their first language, they can be nearly impossible to understand at times. Lots and lots of time is wasted trying to just communicate. At QA4U, all of our bug reports must pass "The Grandmother Test." A typical, non-technical grandmother must be able to reproduce the bugs based on our text descriptions, screenshots, steps to reproduce, expected results, and actual results. We very, very rarely are asked for clarification on a bug report.
3) Offshore vendors can steal your designs or leak your plans to the press or to your competitors (for money) with impunity because American courts have no jurisdiction over intellectual property laws in other countries.
Are you willing to fly to India, hire an attorney in India, and attempt to sue a company or individual there for violating your non-disclosure agreement? At QA4U, we're located in Monterey, California and are subject to American laws and contracts. In 20+ years of operation, we have never had a single complaint about copyright infringement or violation of a non-disclosure agreement. Our clients come back, year after year, because they know they can rely on us to keep their secrets secret.
4) Offshore vendors often provide inconsistent results due to the fact that they have a low bar for hiring and high turnover.
At QA4U, we hire the best, provide ongoing training updates, and treat our employees very well. You will always get excellent results with QA4U.
5) Because of their lack of expertise, offshore vendors typically throw more resources at a project than does a qualified, local vendor.
For example, where an offshore vendor might assign 5-6 beginner-level testers to your project, QA4U might assign 2-3 expert-level testers who will get the job done more quickly and, more importantly, we'll do a much more thorough job.
6) The notion of overall cost-savings with offshore labs is a short-sighted myth.
There may be cost savings up-front, but after your project ships and the missed bugs begin to make themselves known via customers contacting your technical support staff to complain, the initial cost-savings don't taste quite as sweet. Then there's the silent killer; branding erosion. Shipping a mediocre product may not come back to bite you right away, but how much is your company's reputation worth? Customers make purchasing decisions based on perceived value for their dollar, and if they perceive that the quality level of your products doesn't meet their expectations, you face a high risk of your customers defecting to your competitors. And how much does it cost you to rework a flawed product? How about trying to get out a critical point release to fix bugs that the offshore team missed, while you're working on other projects? Are the late nights and weekends you'll have to ask your teams to work worth it? With QA4U, when we test your product, you can count on our results being correct, clear, and comprehensive. Save money by doing it right the first time with QA4U.
QA4U Software Test Labs, Inc.
Monterey, CA