1. A Brief Insight on Independent
Testing
By Aayush Gupta & Ubaid Ahmed
www.tothenew.com
2. A Brief Insight on Independent Testing
2
CONTENT
1. Introduction
4. Advantages of Independent Testing
8. Conclusion
3. Why Do We Need Independent Testing?
2. What is Independent Testing?
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12
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13
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12
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5. When to Choose Independent Testing?
9. About the Authors
6. Who Can Offer Independent Testing Services?
10. About TO THE NEW Digital
7. Case Study
11. Explore Other Resources
3. A Brief Insight on Independent Testing
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Organizations, big or small, almost always have to deal with bugs in their products that creep up with
the changing needs and enhancements in the rapidly evolving technological landscape. Testing is
a crucial phase, an important factor in determining the length of the product’s life cycle. Globally,
industries have competently transformed testing mechanisms to proactively prevent these bugs,
thereby attaining higher quality of standards in the market.
In this ebook, we will look into independent testing and how outsourcing the testing activity to
organizations having an independent testing practice brings significant advantages to cost, quality
and time to market for software applications and products.
1. Introduction
Independent testing is a collection of tests performed by one or more professional software testers,
who are not related to the product development team. They are termed as “independent” as they are
neither associated with the product’s producer or the product’s consumer. As a result they are free of
any bias or assumptions taken during the development of the product. This is unlike the scenario where
a lot of assumptions and bias creeps in when testing is performed by
• Developers of the product themselves or
• A dedicated tester within the same product team or
• A dedicated tester outside the team within the same organization
Due to the absence of any assumptions, it is generally believed that the overall quality of the product
is improved and issues are highlighted earlier in independent testing.
2. What is Independent Testing?
For any product’s thorough evaluation, it is of utmost importance to test its functional and non-functional
behavior and whether it acts according to business requirements. Most IT executives will agree to the
fact that any organization that wants to rapidly deliver high quality software product should get the
product thoroughly tested. An unsuccessful testing task may permit a sub-standard product to go live,
which may harm the reputation of the product and the organization.
3. Why do we need Independent Testing?
4. A Brief Insight on Independent Testing
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Keeping this thought in mind, businesses might think that if one needs to get a product tested in its
entirety, then why not get it tested by the development team itself; who are, in fact, the makers of the
product. As reasonable as it sounds, we should not get testing done by the developers who developed
it because, it is difficult for developers to change their point of view after they have been constructive
when developing the software product. Also it’s less likely that someone will criticize their own work.
Hence, organizations need independent testing teams as a neutral umpire.
More reasons why independent testing becomes inevitable are
• Independent testers are totally unbiased and see each defect in a neutral light & with an end-
user’s perspective
• They have the ability to see what actually exists in the software, keeping business logic in mind, than
what was thought by the developer, while developing it
• They avoid assumptions regarding the behavior of the software being tested
Organizations are expected to continuously develop and deliver high quality software products with
minimum budget. As they have a limited budget, they can’t hire different testing skills in advance, as
it will hit the overall revenue of the organization in case if they are not put to use. Also they can’t hire
as-and-when required since it impacts the delivery of the product.
One more challenge that organizations face is the never-ending change in needs or requirements of
the client. No one would like to see their product become outdated or obsolete. They will have to get it
updated to meet the market demands. As the objectives of the products change, testing requirements
are also bound to change. Organizations might not be flexible enough to cater to these changes
due to time and cost constraints. As a result, either the quality of the product is compromised or the
delivery of the product to the end user is delayed. Both of these are harmful for the reputation of an
organization.
All these challenges and, also, factors including software complexity, size and user sophistication have
led to the birth of independent testing organizations.
Independent testing has an upper hand over traditional testing approach because it comes with a
bag full of advantages.
4. Advantages of Independent Testing
5. A Brief Insight on Independent Testing
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Improved Software Quality
One of the top benefits of outsourcing testing to independent testing organizations is improved software
quality.
• Independent testing team works for bug-free and user-friendly products
• They are involved in independent testing activities that avoid biased mindset of the developer
• They also make sure that the product is developed according to the requirements of the customers
and hence meets the objectives; the end result is a high quality software product.
Image: Benefits of Independent Testing
Experienced and Skilled Manpower
Independent testing organizations have experienced and skilled manpower needed to carry out the
testing activities in the best possible manner.
• They are capable of hiring the best talent
• Variety of skills exist in these organizations, be it automation testing, manual testing, load testing,
security testing or any other sort of testing. They have rich and abundant talents across the domains
of testing.
6. A Brief Insight on Independent Testing
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Reduced Time to Market
There is a reduced and improved time to market for organizations having an independent testing
practice. This is ensured by enabling faster turnaround of releases. It can be achieved through:
• Access to expertise in test automation skills enabling faster testing cycles
• Predictability of testing efforts ensuring adherence to schedule
• Ability to handle changing requirements because of optimized staffing
Flexibility
We are living in a fast paced world and in order to keep up with the pace, one of the major requirements
is flexibility. Independent testing ensures flexibility in the following ways:
• On the basis of the organization’s requirements and market needs, one can opt for automation
testing or manual testing
• Switching from manual to automation testing or vice-versa is not an issue as independent testing
organizations have the best talent and expertise for various testing skills
Lower Life Cycle Costs
An organization with focus on independent testing practice can focus exclusively on quality and
adherence to requirements. This will ensure low failure rates and reduced maintenance costs.
• Rigorous testing cycles for functional and non-functional aspects of the software product. Non-
functional aspects include performance, stress handling capacity of the software product, etc.
• Improving focus on maintainability and scalability to address future needs
The need for ‘Independent Testing’ or ‘External Independent Evaluation’ started when some companies
found that they could not afford testing resources on permanent basis or when there is no skilled
resources available with them.
5. When to Choose Independent Testing?
7. A Brief Insight on Independent Testing
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Companies choose independent testing when they feel that the outputs by the internal team may not
be sufficient. They evaluate independent testing on certain factors such as time vs output, skills-set of
current work force, finances and market to determine if they need it. Let’s have some light on each of
these factors.
Time vs output
This is a factor of efficiency. Teams decide to go for independent testing when the factor of time vs
output is better in case of independent testing than performing testing within the internal team.
Cash/Funds
Available resources in the team may be costly as compared to the resources available outside.
The project team in such cases could look for resources outside the organization to save costs via
independent testing. Internal expensive resources can be utilized for projects with higher ROI.
Market
The market may be more lucrative in terms of experience. Having resources outside the organisation
with a varied skill set and experience may account for better results compared to having resources
from within the organisation.
Mindset
The mindset is also a key factor that prompts the management to look for independent testing. When
the testing team (internal team) sits along with the development team, there is a high possibility
that testers may not be testing rigorously with the same zeal as they might test the product of other
companies. In latter case, they will always do better because they have to prove that it is because of
their testing efforts and the trust in the market for their capabilities, they remain successful in getting
projects.
Available skill-set
Consider a scenario in which a particular project requires a specific type of testing, say, performance
testing with QTP (HP QuickTest Professional) for which the specific resources may not be available in the
team. Hiring resources takes time and permanent resources can be a costly affair if the company does
not have sufficient projects in pipeline. This implies independent testing as the perfect option.
8. A Brief Insight on Independent Testing
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There are certain prerequisites before an organization can offer independent testing services in the
market. These include:
• CoE: Center of excellence defines a dedicated unit or group or team that takes the task of
leadership. They set an example for other employees and the organization as a whole in a specified
area like technology. The CoE of Quality Assurance vertical takes care of all quality activities for the
technology projects.
• Professionals: Professionals with skills matching the projects demand is key to the growth of testing
offerings in any organization
• Dedicated Test Labs: To handle the fast pace of changes in design, it is necessary to test on real
devices. An organisation planning to offer independent testing services should have a dedicated
test lab containing all types of devices.
• Consultancy Units: Any project team looking for independent testing services will need consultants
who can help in deciding the type of testing their project will require.
6. Who Can Offer Independent Testing Services?
Image: Independent Testing Service Providers
9. A Brief Insight on Independent Testing
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7. Case Study
The Client and Business Need
A client wanted to launch a product with stiff timelines. The product had to be delivered in three sprints
each spanning two weeks. Quality was also a critical factor that could not be undervalued. The model
of shared services, spanning multiple locations, enabled it to enhance the business value and reduce
the cost of operation, with timely deliverables.
Challenges
• Rapid release cycles
• Project demanded various levels of testing including performance testing
• Testing resources with skills of project specific tools
Since there was a lot to be delivered in each sprint, quality assurance team had an added challenge
to complete the tasks of sprints within the time and had to take care that no defect was carried to the
next sprint.
Approach
Testing Centre of Excellence (TCoE) analyzed the business need with their knowledge to tackle such
challenges. They used four methods to kick start testing and had concrete results in defined timelines.
The methods include:
• Requirement Analysis
• Gap Analysis
• Implementing the testing framework for teams in different locations
• Defining results in presentable forms in which business users can find value
The TCoE team uses their experience for productivity improvement as well as knowledge management.
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Best Practices Adopted
REQUIREMENTS
TRACEABILITY
TEST PROGRAM
MANAGEMENT
KNOWLEDGE
SHARING
CUSTOMER
FEEDBACK
Complete traceability from test requirements, test
cases and defects maintained in Requirement
Traceability Matrix (RTM).
Implemented a structured program to capture and
manage the testing process based on data. Metrics
like quality, productivity, effort and schedule
deviation are monitored at each milestone. Defects
analysis is also done on the data from each release.
Conducting open house sessions and creation of
knowledge portals to share best practises within and
across projects.
Periodic reviews and regular customer feedback to
ensure that the program is on track.
Benefits
• Independent testing has a proven record of generating a relatively higher degree of quality
products. The time to market and technological stability are some important factors where
significant improvements were observed. Other benefits were in terms of cost savings, process
standardization and enhanced productivity.
• The improvement in quality of services was through near-zero defect delivery
11. A Brief Insight on Independent Testing
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Quality Cost Savings
• The client was satisfied with the overall quality of the product and the approach in which the bugs
were reported to decrease with each sprint.
• Independent testing proved to be a boon for such a project with stiff timelines where the in-house
development and testing teams could have been lesser productive that may lead to a compromise
in the quality of the product.
Image: Sprints Vs Defects
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Over the last two decades, a number of software products have been released in the market leading
to a fierce competition among many software enterprises. There is a pressing need for product owners
to release a sustainable product in the market. In order to achieve that, the product owners are finding
their ways to independent testing services.
There is a greater expectation that these testing services will be more linked to business product
effectiveness with an unbiased approach of testing. This results in the delivery of cost-effective, top
quality products. Critics are needed everywhere to assess and improve the quality and performance of
products and services. Independent testing is that critic which works in favor of an organization, working
from a distance.
8. Conclusion
9. About the Authors
Aayush Gupta
Senior Software Engineer
Quality Assurance
Aayush is a CMS test engineer with expertise in AEM (CQ) space and has a wide range of interests
including cross-browser testing and responsive designs. He is proactive, fun loving and builds quick
rapport with the clients and team members to achieve goals. Apart from being a full time QA engineer,
he takes interest in global finance and economy.
Ubaid Ahmed
Senior Software Engineer
Quality Assurance
Ubaid is a sagacious QA engineer having an extensive experience in functional testing of web and
mobile based applications. He has a good exposure of working in an agile environment and is well
versed with tools such as Jira and HPQC. He is passionate about automation tools, especially Selenium
Web Driver and Appium. He strongly feels that every test engineer should keep themselves updated
with the latest technology trends and keep increasing their skill sets via self-learning. When not testing
he prefers listening to Jagjit Singh.
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TO THE NEW Digital is a premium digital services company that uniquely combines the power of
technology, analytics, marketing and content for digital transformation. TO THE NEW Digital has
developed over 200 mission critical web and mobile applications, delivered over 2 billion video views,
executed over 1000 digital campaigns, helped over 50 global clients with our social media analytics
services and have done more than 100 cloud implementations.
10. About TO THE NEW Digital
11. Explore Other Resources
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to Performance Testing
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Environment
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