Blog
Longer reads for buyers, in four categories. Every factual claim links to a public source.
Procurement
Running the selection: process, risk and evaluation.
The vendor selection process, step by step, for QA services
The generic vendor selection steps from public procurement guidance, mapped onto buying software testing services, with the points where a QA purchase differs.
Third-party risk management for testing vendors
Where a QA vendor sits in a third-party risk programme: inherent risk from code, data and system access, and what procurement should require at onboarding.
Writing a due diligence questionnaire for a QA vendor
How to trim a generic supplier due diligence questionnaire down to the questions that matter for a software testing vendor, and how to check the answers.
The risks of outsourcing QA and how procurement can reduce them
A risk register for a QA outsourcing decision: delivery, people, data, IP, lock-in and exit, each paired with a procurement or contract control.
Buying QA services for a fintech product
What changes when you buy testing for regulated financial software: PCI DSS test data rules, audit trails, and regulator expectations on outsourcing contracts.
Contracts
Clauses, what to insist on and how vendors push back.
The key personnel clause in a QA contract
How to name the test lead and senior testers in a QA contract, control replacements, set notice periods and decide who pays for ramp-up, using public wording.
Should service credits be the only remedy for a missed SLA?
Why sole-remedy wording weakens a QA service level agreement, and how public contract models keep termination and damages available when credits are not enough.
Termination for convenience in testing contracts
How to draft termination for convenience in a QA contract: notice periods, wind-down fees and the link to exit assistance, so you can leave without a dispute.
Rate locks and price escalation caps in QA contracts
Fixed rates for the first term, index-linked increases with a cap, and how to handle currency risk when your testing vendor invoices from another country.
Subcontracting consent: who is actually testing your product
Requiring written consent before a QA vendor uses subcontractors or freelancers, flowing down confidentiality and data terms, and keeping the vendor liable.
Market
Public data on rates and engagement models, with sources.
What US labour statistics say about QA analyst and tester pay
How to read BLS pay data for software quality assurance analysts and testers (SOC 15-1253), what it includes, and why a salary is not a vendor rate.
ICT specialist supply in the EU: what Eurostat data shows
What Eurostat figures on ICT specialists in employment and hard-to-fill vacancies say about nearshore testing capacity, and what they cannot tell a buyer.
Public ceiling rates for testing labour: the GSA CALC data
What GSA CALC+ labor ceiling rates for software testers show, how US federal buyers use them for market research, and why a ceiling rate is not a quote.
UK public sector day rates: G-Cloud SFIA rate cards
How SFIA rate cards and G-Cloud day rates are structured for testing services, how UK public buyers compare them, and why a published rate is a ceiling.
Failures
Public post-mortems of outsourcing gone wrong, read by a buyer.
TSB 2018: what the regulators said about testing and suppliers
What the FCA and PRA final notices on TSB's 2018 IT migration say about reduced performance testing, readiness evidence and oversight of a critical supplier.
HealthCare.gov: contract oversight lessons from GAO-14-694
What GAO found about CMS planning, unclear approval authority and unused quality surveillance plans on HealthCare.gov, turned into controls for a QA buyer.
NHS National Programme for IT: lessons for buyers of assurance
What NAO reports on the NHS National Programme for IT say about supplier contracts, measuring delivered functionality and acceptance, for QA buyers.
Queensland Health payroll: what the inquiry found on testing
How the 2013 Queensland Health payroll inquiry found test entry and exit criteria were lowered before go-live, and what a QA buyer should put in contracts.