Note: Occasionally a client may rewrite work or change it enough that I no longer feel it accurately represents the work that I did. In those cases, I keep my version here, so that you can see what my work looks like, and so that I don’t misrepresent work as mine that wasn’t. This piece was accepted and paid for by Testlio.com and edited heavily.
Typically, after a layoff, companies spend some time readjusting. This can result in a quiet period that can’t go on forever, so these companies often need to outsource help, especially when it comes to software testing. This kind of flexible staffing model is becoming increasingly important as tech companies face layoffs due to economic uncertainty and rapid changes in the industry. In this context, a flexible staffing model can allow you to scale your workforce up or down as needed and can help you stay competitive and adapt to changing market conditions.
The Flexible Staffing Model
Often, QA is the first place to suffer after a period of layoffs and subsequent reduction in workforce. Especially if the QA department has been culled, more bugs start to creep in, with a bigger lag in fix time, which can result in user complaints and loss of revenue. When you notice this, you need to reinvigorate your software testing commitment, but with a sudden reduction in budget or staff, what can you do?
A flexible staffing model offered by a third-party software company that specializes in testing may be your solution. For companies that lack full-time QA staff, this kind of expert partner can be invaluable, providing elastic staffing that can burst when you need it, say when deploying a new feature, adding a new payment method, or expanding into a new foreign market. This partner can then go dormant when you only need minimal maintenance QA, and ramp up again any time the need comes. If a new compatibility issue, bug, or attack crops up, for example.
Utilizing AI
Utilizing AI as part of a flexible staffing model can help you achieve even greater efficiency, speed, and accuracy in your QA processes. AI can be used to automate repetitive manual tasks, such as regression testing and exploratory testing. This frees up human QA teams to focus on more strategic testing tasks, like security testing, accessibility testing, and user experience testing.
AI can also be used to analyze large amounts of data in real time, providing insights and recommendations for the QA team to make informed decisions. Automated functional testing, for example, is one way Testlio uses automation to speed up and improve results for QA teams. This process is mission-critical and central to successful QA.
By incorporating AI into a flexible staffing model, you can achieve a better balance between the strengths of human and machine labor, allowing you to quickly adapt to changing business needs and deliver high-quality products in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
Economics of Outsourcing
With elastic staffing, you have the flexibility to scale your workforce up or down as needed, providing significant cost savings compared to traditional in-house staffing models. In other words, elastic staffing means an elastic budget.
One of the key benefits here is the ability to pay only for the hours and staff you need, without having to bear the costs associated with recruiting, hiring, onboarding, training, and retaining full-time employees. This saves money and the time and resources that would otherwise be required to manage an in-house team.
Another advantage of crowdsourced testing is that it eliminates the need for integrating new QA software and technologies, as these are typically provided by the outsourcing vendor. This can help you stay up-to-date with the latest advances in technology, without having to invest in expensive software or training.
Finally, when it comes to highly-qualified QA staffing, outsourcing provides access to expert QA teams who can work with your development team to deliver high-quality software, further eliminating the need for onboarding testers or maintaining thousands of device/OS combinations when new products roll out.
Leverage the Power of Flexible Staffing with Testlio’s QA Solutions
Flexible staffing models have become a crucial innovation for tech companies facing layoffs and budget constraints. Between elastic staffing that can expand and contract as needed, streamlined costs, access to highly experienced QA teams, and greater-than-ever efficiency using AI, a flexible staffing model powered by Testlio’s world-class QA teams may be the solution you need to reinvigorate your software testing. Contact us today to request your free demo and find out just how powerful flexible staffing can be for your QA department.