Why Businesses Need Software QA Consulting Services to Grow

There are so many ways in which a software testing consultant can help streamline your processes. Whether you’re lacking in expertise, don’t have the time, or simply need a fresh perspective on what you’re doing, the chances are a consultant can tidy up your processes in a way that helps your product-market fit and speeds up the process overall. 

Many issues with QA require very simple fixes, yet companies continually lose customers because of buggy software. In fact, it’s said that 88% of people will abandon an otherwise good piece of kit because of defective code that gets through. 

Consulting services can help you catch these bugs before they are released, bringing with them specific industry information or breadth of expertise across the industry, and help remodel your procedures to not only save you money but also improve the quality of your final product. Want to know how? Let’s find out!

The Purpose and Process of Software QA Consulting

The right software QA consulting firm can make all the difference to your growth as a company, should you be eligible for their services. Their role is to provide evaluation and improvement services to your QA processes and using their expertise in your specific field, they should be able to streamline your testing by incorporating a combination of automation, specialized testing, and even – where necessary – a complete overhaul of current QA practices. 

A consulting company can accomplish this due to a couple of key features: 

• Many startups, small companies, or fledgling enterprises simply don’t have the expertise on board and can benefit greatly from the input of an experienced industry specialist.
• It can be hard to assess processes from the inside, even with this experience available in-house, and it’s good to have a fresh pair of eyes on the issue. 

Consultants won’t always have experience in your industry, and they don’t always need to. However, sometimes you’re paying for their breadth of knowledge and the networks they have access to in developing businesses like yours. This is a huge component of what makes them important for expansion.

A good consulting service offers a flexible and neutral perspective on what you’re doing and informed suggestions for improving it. The right consultant can help with the tools, processes, and tests necessary to improve the overall testing process. This has numerous benefits to the speed and accuracy of your testing, bringing a better value product to market faster. 

The process will vary depending on the firm, but it might look something like this: 

1. QA consultants review and evaluate the current state of the QA process.

2. They identify issues that need work and prioritize them, assigning each with a potential solution. These solutions are analyzed and developed into an action plan while their tracking metrics are identified. 

3. After stakeholders have been involved and the customer agrees to the proposed changes, the QA consultant works to implement the action plan.

4. Teams are monitored during the adoption of the new procedures, and consultants remain available until handover. This might involve onboarding the customer with new automation processes or simply being around for advice as the new procedures are adopted. 

Again, this might differ depending on the specifics of the task at hand, and it’s important to go into the procedure with the company before hiring them to ensure they do things in accordance with your needs. We’ll go over some things to look out for when hiring shortly, but first, consider why you might need a consultant in the first place.

What Kind of Company Needs Software Testing Consulting?

Any number of companies at any stage of growth can benefit from taking on a software QA consulting team. What matters isn’t so much what stage and direction the company is at but rather whether the company is struggling with any of the issues that a consultant would be suitable for working on. These include: 

• A QA process that isn’t optimized well
• Tracking of only the most basic metrics or KPIs
• A QA process that isn’t fit for the purpose
• Delays caused by bugs
• Poor quality products
• Expensive QA processes
• Lack of in-house QA talent

And plenty of other hindrances to getting the product out on time and cost-effectively. Usually, a poor-quality end product is a symptom of a much larger QA issue, and if that’s the case, it may take some outside help to identify the root causes along the processes involved. 

If any of these things look familiar, you might be interested in looking for a software testing consulting company. And from there, what exactly should you be looking for in one? 

What to Look for in a Software QA Consulting Company

There are plenty of companies to choose from, and their strengths should align with your issues. However, there are some general points to keep an eye out for that might suggest they’re the right people to contact. 

First, make sure they’re relevant. Tech changes fast, so take a look at their portfolio and see if you can identify who’s working with them. If their experience is outdated, it might signal they aren’t as engaged with the market as you want them to be. 

Secondly, consider where they’re located. For similar reasons to the above, offshore consultancy might not be a good fit for your needs. That’s not a universal rule, and there are common benefits to getting help from abroad, but in general, something that relies so much on relevant experience should be sourced locally to your development. 

They should be flexible. The more bespoke your software is, the more they’ll need to adapt to your specific software QA needs. It’s not easy to establish in the early days of searching, but by the time you’re in contact with a representative, you should have some questions to ask them to test how they respond to the unique QA needs of modern software. 

They should also be good at communication. Once you’re in contact, pay close attention to how they communicate. Chances are, if they aren’t responding to your emails clearly, this will translate to poor communication down the line. Discuss the channels of communication you want to use and how your people will communicate with theirs. 

From there, it’s really a matter of whether or not you feel heard and understood. The right consultant for you will have a clear picture of where to look and what to look for just from the early meetings. Don’t be afraid to back out if the fit isn’t feeling good or they don’t seem to have an intuitive understanding of your product’s needs.