Outsourcing software testing activities: A case study for Eastern Ocean Solutions (EOS) — China

Abstract

Software testing is a process or a serious of processes, designed to make sure computer code does what it was designed to do and that it doesn't do anything unintended. Software should be predictable and consistent, offering no surprise to users. The purpose of testing is to show that a program performs its intended functions correctly. Outsourcing is the act of the transferring of an internal business function or functions, plus any associated assets, to an external supplier or service provider who offers a defined service for a specified period of time, at an agreed but probably qualified price. According to, the focus here is to tap into specialized expertise, knowledge, processes and capabilities found outside the organization and to use these as inputs to help improve the effectiveness and efficiency of operations. More important, if done properly, strategically driven outsourcing efforts can not only help operations, but can also contribute to the strategic and competitive advantages of the organization. Hence the impact of outsourcing on software particularly software testing with the concept of smartsourcing for China outsourcing companies is new and remains uncovered at the moment. The aim of this paper is to investigate this new concept. In this study a very young with long history smart-shore vendor, Eastern Ocean Solutions (EOS) located in Donghai, Jiangsu Province, CHINA; applying Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) is studied. This application belongs to the category of software development where testing and quality are of specific concern. The study gives a through description of the implementation of outsourcing in this work and investigates the implications of outsourcing software testing. This paper evaluates the outsourcing approach in relation to its impact on software testing. The results from this paper are expected to take the form of analysis displaying the possibilities offered by the outsourcing as well as some suggestions to enhance this approach in the domain of software testing.