Choosing a white-label QA partner for a digital agency

You run a digital agency and need testing capacity you can include in client projects, often under your own name. The partner has to fit your delivery process, flex with a pipeline of projects that start and stop, price in a way you can quote to clients, and commit to service levels you can pass through to your own contracts.

What changes in criteria and weights

Working under your name rises from 0, where it is not scored by default, to 5; capacity and speed to start, pricing transparency and measurable service levels also rise to 5. Audit rights, knowledge transfer and contracting entity and jurisdiction drop to 2, because projects are shorter and the client relationship stays with you.

Criteria whose weight differs from the default
Criterion	Default weight	Weight here
Capacity and speed to start	3	5
Works under your name	0	5
Pricing transparency	3	5
Measurable service levels	3	5
Audit and information rights	3	2
Knowledge transfer	3	2
Contracting entity and jurisdiction	3	2

Weights run from 0 (not scored) to 5. Every other criterion keeps its default weight of 3. The scoring template loads these weights when you choose this situation.

Which tools, in which order

Cost model: Check that per-project and hourly quotes leave room for your margin and your own coordination time before you shortlist.

RFP generator: Describe typical project types, sizes and notice times so partners price against your real pipeline, not a single large project.

Vendor questionnaire: Filter by this situation to ask how the partner works under your brand, scales up at short notice and handles your clients' data.

Proposal red-flag checker: Catch vague service levels without remedies, undisclosed subcontracting and change requests billed without limit.

Reference-call script: Ask other agencies whether the partner kept to your brand, met deadlines on short projects and never approached their clients.

Scoring template: Score with the agency weights so white-label fit, capacity and pricing clarity lead the comparison.

Contract clauses: Align confidentiality, data processing, service levels and liability with the terms you give your own clients.

Typical mistakes

Signing partner terms that are weaker than the terms you give your clients, so you carry the gap.

Assuming capacity will be there when a project lands, without agreeing notice times and minimum availability.

Letting the partner's staff contact your clients directly or appear in client channels under their own brand.

Forgetting that your clients' data protection terms flow down to the partner, including approval of subprocessors.

Accepting an hourly rate with no fixed-price option, so you cannot quote testing to clients with confidence.

Back-to-back terms

Before you talk to partners, gather the terms you give clients: service levels, confidentiality, data protection, liability, and ownership of deliverables. The partner contract should match or exceed each of them. Where it cannot, adjust what you promise clients rather than carrying the difference yourself.

Capacity you can plan around

Ask how quickly the partner can start a new project, how many testers it can add at short notice, and what happens when two of your projects peak together. Agree notice times and a minimum level of availability, and ask how a tester who knows one of your clients is kept for that client's next project.

Pricing you can quote

Ask for per-project pricing for common project types, an hourly rate for work outside a fixed scope, and the rules for change requests. You need numbers you can put in a client proposal with confidence. Enter the quotes into the cost model with your own coordination time included.

Working under your brand

Agree how testers present themselves, which accounts and email addresses they use, which report templates they follow, and who speaks to clients. Include a written commitment that the partner does not approach your clients for direct work.

Keep the delivery records

Store test plans, test cases, defect history and reports for each client in your own tools. This keeps each client's history with you if you change partner or bring testing in-house.

Questions buyers ask

What does working under our name involve in practice?

The partner's testers use your email domain or client-facing accounts, follow your report templates and communication rules, and do not present their own company to your clients. Agree this in writing along with confidentiality terms.

How do we pass service levels on to clients?

Agree measurable targets with the partner, such as turnaround per build and response time for blocking issues, with remedies if they are missed. Then offer clients service levels that sit inside what the partner has committed to you.

Who is responsible for client data?

Your client contract sets your obligations. If the partner processes personal data, it acts as a subprocessor and needs a written contract with terms at least as strict as yours, and your client may need to approve it.

Should we use one partner or several?

One partner is simpler to manage and brand. A second partner can cover peaks or specialist work. Whichever you choose, keep test cases and reports in your own tools so projects are not tied to one partner.