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A successful software QA outsourcing project requires not only a thorough understanding of your objectives but also in-depth knowledge of the testing market around the world. In this article, let’s find out more about the top countries for software quality assurance services to choose the most suitable destination for your outsourced test center.

 

A Quick Review of Top Countries for Software quality assurance services

To make a favorable destination for outsourcing software quality assurance services, it takes the compilation of many features, including the average salary, Education in IT, Policies for foreign clients, the current number of QA engineers and technical skills. Take a look at this simplified table to gain an overview of the countries with the top software quality assurance services.

 

	Average yearly salary	Number of annual IT graduates	Focused segments of software testing
India	$4,334	1,500,000 (engineering and technology)	AI for automation Automation testing End-to-end testing Cloud Testing
Vietnam	$7,631	50,000	Application testing Automation testing Manual testing API testing Full Cycle testing
The U.S.	$75,242	2,170,000	Application testing Cloud testing IoT testing Security testing DevOps testing AI testing
Ukraine	$8,000	130,000	Full Cycle testing API testing Agile testing Automation testing Game testing
Poland	$17,148	98,250	Manual Test Design and Execution Automated Testing Test Automation Framework Design Functional Testing Load & Performance Testing End-to-End Software Testing API Testing
The Philippines	$8,724	171,960	Application testing Automation testing Manual testing

 

1. India

Currently, India reigns as the most renowned destination for software testing outsourcing in particular. The deciding factor making India the top software quality assurance services country is the reasonable costs for hiring a software tester. With a large pool of low-cost software test engineers, India offers the lowest price for testing services.

In terms of technology, test engineers from India tend to go for the latest and upcoming technical features. In fact, TopCoder has rated India as the 10th most advanced country in terms of Programming skill rankings across the popular outsourcing locations.

 

Software quality assurance services in India

According to research from Deloitte, in terms of governmental policies, India also favors foreign investors, especially in the technology sector. Moreover, the longtime experience in delivering IT services and the undeniable reputation of India in the global IT market have led the government to offer incentives in the best way they can. Besides the policies for the growth of technology in general, India has always boosted education in technology with multiple incentives and many more technology institutions. Such supports from the government has granted India the opportunity to thrive with the largest talent pool.

Also read: Essential QA Metrics to Navigate Software Success

2. Vietnam

Vietnam is the “rising star” in the global software quality assurance services market. Although Vietnam has only gained its reputation recently, the country turns out to be a small but vibrant destination for top-quality software testing services. Every year, there are about 50,000 tech junior graduates from technology institutes, providing an abundant source for Vietnam’s talent pool. About 20% of these graduates will work in the software testing industry.

 

 

What’s so special about the testing services from Vietnamese vendors is the high-quality human resources. According to the A.T. Kearney GSLI, from the early education on Information Technology to the resource availability and financial attractiveness, Vietnam always works towards to best quality in our IT workforce. In this chart, Vietnam ranks alongside India and The Philippines – two popular IT Outsourcing countries. Plus, Tholons Global Innovation COUNTRY INDEX – 2020 ranked Vietnam in the 9th place for talent, skill and quality, proving the country’s capability to ensure high-quality testing services and catch up with the latest testing trends.

The workforce for software testing in Vietnam is well-trained of the required skills in QA processes. For example, the automation testers in Vietnam will sure know the automation tools and frameworks such as Selenium, Appium, Cypress, Ranorex, Eggplant, Katalon, etc.

In terms of government policies, there have been some decisions and laws to protect intellectual property development and cybersecurity, all of which are of great benefit to businesses planning to outsource their software quality assurance services in Vietnam.

Read more: Why you should choose Vietnam as your IT Outsourcing destination

 

3. The U.S.

Despite the rising positions of many other test hubs in the world, the U.S. remains a trustworthy destination for outsourcing testing services. Among tech nations, the U.S. has always been one of the leading places for the most ground-breaking technologies. The application of the latest technologies in the U.S. is the most advanced. Unconsciously, the work quality in the U.S is the standard for every other country to follow as this country has a high level of professionalism.

 

When working with software testing vendors from the U.S., the obvious benefit for you is the language. Since the U.S. has a wide variety of cultures, it is very easy for you to get people with the same cultural background as yours.

Also, America is the home to many famous software testing outsourcing companies in the world, namely Mindful QA, ScienceSoft, QA Mentor, etc. These companies have already made their names in the global testing market, and are trusted destinations for business from all around the world.

 

4. Ukraine

Information Technology is one of the key strategic industries in Ukraine. The value of Ukrainian software outsourcing exceeded $5B in 2020. Also, Ukraine was named the “Offshoring Destination of the Year” by Global Sourcing Association (GSA) in 2017 and ranks 20th the GSLI.

 

According to a popular vendor in Ukraine, the country has more than 1,600 IT service providers, and about 90% of them offer testing services. What’s more, 24% of IT specialists in Ukraine are QA/testers, and 19% of them have 7+ years of experience. There are a little over 48,000 QA experts, and around 16,000 ICT graduates enter the market annually.

The country organizes a wide range of QA conferences such as BAQ Conference, QA Fest, Security Testing Marathon, IT Weekend Lviv: Software Testing & Big Data, etc.

 

5. Poland

The country’s IT services market reached $4.6B in 2019. Around 32% of Polish IT experts work for IT outsourcing (others are working for BPO and GBS companies). Around 29,000 QA professionals are involved in the IT sector in Poland. There are also 500+ IT companies that offer outsourced software testing services.

 

 

Moreover, Poland was ranked 15th in Tholons’ Top 100 Outsourcing Destinations. Poland was also listed 16th in the world for English skills in the EF English Proficiency Index.

 

6. The Philippines

The Philippines is one of the biggest names for IT Outsourcing and software quality assurance services in Southeast Asia. The BPO and outsourcing industry, in general, has been in The Philippines since the mid-1990s, making this country a favorable and professional environment for IT outsourcing operations.

 

 

Besides the fairly reasonable price for the high-quality work, The Philippines can also provide you with the following:

• Effective communication as English is one of the national languages in the country. Almost every tech engineer in The Philippines can speak fluent English. This also leads to cultural fit and compatibility with western countries, bridging the gap in the communication process.
• Famous IT Outsourcing destination with favorable investment policies. Since The Philippines has been in the market longer than any Southeast Asia country, it has long developed a friendly environment for foreign companies to cooperate with domestic IT service providers.
• At present, Outsourcing companies in the Philippines employ more than 2 million people. Therefore, you will have access to a very large talent pool.

 

 

Consult IT outsourcing Strategy with Lotus QA

Lotus QA has the expertise and experience with testing services in many domains such as retail, food and beverage, healthcare, etc., making us one trustworthy and professional service provider for businesses wanting to implement testing. When working with us, you will get access to:

• High Security: LQA not only follows stringent procedures of ISO 27000:01 for optimal security and international standardized process but also flexibly adapts to clients’ requirements
• Quality Human Resource: we ensure staff competency through strict rounds of interviews, on-job orientations, continuous learning & development for the most suitable QA staff.
• Flexibility: We provide different working models to allow clients to choose or change the plan at any time.

Contact us for more support with testing services:

• Website: https://www.lotus-qa.com/
• Tel: (+84) 24-6660-7474
• Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/LotusQualityAssurance

 

The ever-growing development pace of information technology draws a tremendous need for better speed and flawless execution. So, Automation Testing vs. Manual Testing, which one to go with?

 

As a reflection of this, manual testing is still a vital part of the testing process, non-excludable from the field for some of its specific characteristics. 

Both automation testing and manual testing pose great chances of cost-efficiency and security for your firms. In this article, the three underlying questions of what approach should be applied to your firm for the best outcome will be answered:

• What are the parameters for the comparison between the two?
• What are the pros and cons of automation testing and manual testing?
• Which kind of testing is for which?

 

What is automation testing?

Automation testing is a testing technique utilizing tools and test scripts to automate testing efforts. In other words, specified and customized tools are implemented in the testing process instead of solely manual forces.

Up until now, automated testing is considered a more innovative technique to boost the effectiveness, test coverage, and test execution speed in software testing. With this new “approach”, the testing process is expected to yield more test cases under a shorter amount of time and expand test coverage.

While it does not entirely exclude manual touch within the process, automation testing is a favorable solution for its cost-efficiency and limited human intervention. To put it in other words, automation testing requires manual efforts to make automation testing possible.

 

What is manual testing?

Manual testing, as in its literal meaning, is the technique in which a tester/a QA executes the whole testing process manually, from writing test cases to implementing them.

Every step of a testing process including test design, test report or even UI testing is carried out by a group of personnel, either in-house or outsourced. 

In manual testing, QA analysts carry out tests one-by-one in an individual manner to find bugs, glitches and key feature issues prior to the software application’s launch. As part of this process, test cases and summary error reports are developed without any automation tools.

*Check out:

Why Manual to Automation Testing

6 steps to transition from Manual to Automation testing

 

Magnifying glass for differences between Automation Testing and Manual Testing

Simple as their names are, automation testing and manual testing seem easy to define and identify. However, when looking into the details of many aspects such as test efficiency, test coverage or the types of testing to be applied, it requires a meticulous and strategic understanding of the two.

The differences between automation testing and manual testing can be classified into the following categories:

• Cost
• Human Intervention
• Types of Testing
• Test execution
• Test efficiency
• Test coverage

 

1. Testing cost

For every company, when it comes to testing costs, it requires ubiquitous analysis to weigh in the cost and the benefit to choose a technique for testing.

With the evaluation of potential costs and revenue generated from the project itself, the analysis will determine whether the project needs automation testing or manual testing. As listed in this table, the initial investment, subject of investment and cost-efficiency will be addressed.

Parameters	Automation Testing	Manual Testing
Initial Investment	Automated Testing requires a much larger initial investment to really hit it off. In change for that is the higher ROI yielding in the long run. The cost of automation testing is to cover Automation Testers and open-source automation tools, which can be quite costly.	The initial investment in Manual Testing lies in the cost for human resources and team setup. This may seemingly be economic at first with the cost of just 1/10 of that with automation testing, but in the long-term, the cost can pile up to huge expenses.
Subject of Investment	Investment is resourced for specified and customized tools, as well as automation QA engineers, who expect a much higher salary range when compared to those of manual testing.	Investment is poured into Human Resources. This can be either in-house recruitment or outsourcing, depending on your firm’s request and strategy.
Test volume for cost-efficiency	High-volume regression	Low-volume regression

 

2. Human Resources Involvement

The whole picture of manual testing and automated testing does not simply indulge in the forces that execute the testing, whether it is a human being or a computer. However, there are some universal differences concerning human resources involvement.

Parameters	Automation Testing	Manual Testing
User Interface observation	Automation Testing is basically executed by scripts and codes. Therefore, it cannot score on users’ interaction and opinions upon the software. Matters such as user-friendliness and positive customer experience are out of reach in this case.	The user interface and user experience are put into consideration. This process usually involves a whole team.
Staff’s programming skill requirement	Automation testing entails presets of Most In-Demand programming skills	Manual testing does not necessitate high-profile programming skills or even none.
Salary range	As estimated by Salary.com, the average Automation Test Engineer salary in the United States is approximately 4% higher than that of a regular Software Tester.	The salary range for manual testing is often lower because automated testing requires fluency in different coding languages, which manual testers are incapable of.
Talent availability	It is quite hard for talent acquisition with automation testing engineers.	It is easier for talent acquisitions as the training and coaching for manual testers are easier.

 

3. Testing types

While software testing breaks down into smaller aspects such as performance testing or system testing, Automation Testing or Manual Testing are too general and broad an approach. For each type of testing, we have different approaches, either through an automated one or a manual one. In this article, the following types of testing will be disclosed:

• Performance Testing (Load Test, Stress Test, Spike Test)
• Batch Testing
• Exploratory Testing
• UI Testing
• Adhoc Testing
• Regression Testing 
• Build Verification Testing

Parameters	Automation Testing	Manual Testing
Performance Testing	Performance Testing, including Load Test, Stress Test, Spike Test, is to be tested with Automation Testing.	Manual Testing is not feasible with Performance Testing because of restricted human resources and lack of necessary skills.
Batch Testing	Batch Testing allows multiple test scripts on a nightly basis to be executed.	Batch Testing is not feasible with manual testing.
Exploratory Testing	As exploratory testing takes too much effort to execute, automation testing is impossible	Exploratory testing is for the exploration of the functionalities of the software under the circumstance that no knowledge of the software is required, so it can be done with manual testing
UI Testing	Automated Testing does not involve human interactions, so user interface testing is not feasible.	Human intervention is involved in the manual testing process, so it is proficient to test the user interface with manual testing.
Adhoc Testing	Adhoc testing is performed randomly, so it is definitely not for automation testing.	The core of Adhoc Testing is the testing execution without the instruction of any documents or test design techniques.
Regression Testing	Regression testing means repeated testing of an already tested program. When codes are changed, only automation testing can execute the test in such a short amount of time	Regression testing takes too much effort and too much time to test a changed code or features, so manual test is not the answer for regression testing.
Build Verification Testing	Due to the automation feature, Build Verification Testing is feasible.	It was difficult and time-consuming to execute the Build Verification Testing.

 

4. Test execution

When it comes to testing execution, the expected results are correlated with the actual ones. The answer for “How are automated testing and manual testing carried out?” is also varied, based on the scenario of actual engagement, frameworks, approach, etc.

Parameters	Automation Testing	Manual Testing
Training Value	Automation Testing results are stored in the form of automated unit test cases. It is easy to access and quite straightforward for a newbie developer to understand the codebase.	Manual Testing is limited to training values with no actual documentation of unit test cases.
Engagement	Besides the initial phase with manual testing, automation testing works mostly with tools, hence the accuracy and the interest in testing are secured.	Manual Testing is prone to error, repetitive and tedious, which may cause disinterest for testers.
Approach	Automated Testing is more cost-effective for frequent execution of the same set of test cases.	Manual Testing is more cost-effective for test cases with 1 to 2 test executions
Frameworks	Commercial frameworks, paid tools and open-source tools are often implemented for better outcomes of Automation Testing.	Manual Testing uses checklists, stringent processes or dashboards for test case drafting.
Test Design	Test-Driven Development Design is enforced.	Manual Unit Tests do not involve coding processes.
UI Change	Even the slightest change in the user interface requires modification in Automated Test Scripts	Testers do not encounter any pause as the UI changes.
Access to Test Report	Test execution results are visible to anyone who can log into the automation testing system.	Test execution results are stored in Excel or Word files. Access to these files is restricted and not always available.
Deadlines	Lower risk of missing a deadline.	Higher risk of missing a deadline

 

Also read: Essential QA Metrics to Navigate Software Success

5. Test Efficiency

Test Efficiency is one of the vital factors for a key person to decide whether their firm needs automated testing or manual testing. The fast-paced development of information technology, in general, has yielded more demands in the field of testing, hence skyrocketing the necessity of automation testing implementation.

Regarding test efficiency, automation testing seems to be a more viable and practical approach for a firm with fast execution and sustainability.

Parameters	Automation Testing	Manual Testing
Time and Speed	Automation Testing can execute more test cases in a shorter amount of time	Manual Testing is more time-consuming. It also takes much effort to finish a set of test cases.
Sustainability	Usually, test scripts are written in languages such as JavaScript, Python, or C#. These codes are reusable and quite sustainable for later test script development. Any change can be easily altered with decent skills of coding.	Manual testing does not generate any kind of synchronized documentation for further utility. On the other hand, the skillsets for coding are not necessary.

 

6. Test Coverage

Error detection with Automation Testing is covered more thoroughly. Approaches like reviews, inspections, and walkthroughs are done without leaving anything behind. On the side of manual testing, the numbers of device and operating system permutations are limited. 

 

What are the advantages and disadvantages of automation testing and manual testing?

Automation testing and manual testing both pose great opportunities for the testing industry. For each approach, you have to put many aspects into consideration. In general, automation testing and manual testing have their merits and demerits.

 

Automation Testing pros and cons

Advantages of automation testing

• Reduced repetitive tasks, such as regression tests, testing environments setup, similar test data input
• Better control and transparency of testing activities. Statistics and graphs about test process, performance, and error rates are explicitly indicated
• Decreased test cycle time. Software release frequency speeds up
• Better test coverage

Disadvantages of automation testing

• Extended amount of time for training about automation testing (tools guidance and process)
• The perspective of a real user being separated from the testing process
• Requirement for automation testing tools that can be purchased from third vendors or acquired for free. Each of them has its own benefits and drawbacks
• Poor coverage of the test scope
• Costly test maintenance due to the problem of debugging the test script

 

Manual Testing pros and cons

Advantages of manual testing

• Capability to deal with more complex test cases
• Lower cost   
• Better execution for Ad-hoc testing or exploratory testing
• The visual aspect of the software, such as GUIs (Graphical User Interface) to be covered

Disadvantages of manual testing

• Prone to mistakes
• Unsustainability
• Numerous test cases for a longer time of test execution
• No chance of load testing and performance testing execution

Should you choose automation testing or manual testing?

For each approach of automation testing or manual testing, the question of what to choose for your firm cannot be answered without considering the parametric, the pros and cons of the two.

If your company is a multinational corporation with a vision for large-scale digital transformation, having huge revenue and funds for testing, automation testing is the answer for you. 

Automation testing is sustainable in the long run, enabling your corporation to achieve a higher yield of ROI. It also secures your firm with better test coverage and test efficiency. Automation testing will be the best solution for regression testing and performance testing.

 

If your company seeks a cheaper solution with test case execution under a smaller scope, you should aim at manual testing for a smaller testing cost. User Interface, user experience, exploratory testing, Adhoc testing have to be done with manual testing.

All in all, although automation testing benefits many aspects of the quality assurance process, manual testing is of paramount importance. Please be noted that under the circumstance of frequent changes in test cases, manual testing is compulsory and inseparable from automation testing. The accumulation of the two will generate the most cost-effective approach for your firm.

For the best practices of testing, you should see the automation approach as a chance to perform new ways of working in DevOps, Mobile, and IoT.

 

Want to dig deeper into automation testing vs. manual testing and decide the one for your business? Contact LQA now for a FREE consultation with our specialists and experts.

• Website: https://www.lotus-qa.com/
• Tel: (+84) 24-6660-7474
• Fanpage: https://www.facebook.com/LotusQualityAssurance