Due to lack of enough Testers to work on a new product we decided to go down the path of outsourcing automation for that product.
In the process of getting proposal in (RFPs), We’re probably going to have one an Automation Engineer on our end doing design and code reviews along the way and give them specific deliverables (code coverage, e2e scenarios that we want automated etc.)
Any tips from Leads that have been through this process before?
My automation team is based offshore (two resources), honestly they are doing a great job, the only thing is that I lead them to most important things that we would like to automate or implement as part of automation. I guess it also depends on the level of seniority that your resource will have, as then you can use him more to bring solutions and just not follow your instructions.
It’s always good to have a onsite resource, closer to you and ideas can be often discussed, even though with offshore you can always have conf calls as well, but we know that meeting personally is always better.
We’re probably going to have one person on-site and then he can handle the communication with the offshore team.
Was looking more in the aspect of statement of work and expected deliverables. They are supposed to set up a framework and a reporting platform for us. So I was thinking adding so requirements like acceptable rate of false test failures etc. A bit concern also with how much visibility we will have to they implementation.
That is great news.
Can I ask is it 2 x single contractor resources or an off shore company that has provided you with 2 resources?
I can’t say I have experienced this in fact it has always been very difficult working with on/off shore teams and I am very interested in what has made your experience a successful one. Would like to read about your insight to what makes your resources better functioning.
Its an offshore company, where our company has several a pool of resources available, and in this case we allocated 2 automation resources for my team. One thing that I felt it was key, was making them part of solutions and ideas that are being proposed. Not only have us proposing enhancements, but also have them bring things as well. They need to feel valuable to the team (and everyone is, we cannot do anything alone).
Also, it depends a bit on the level of seniority of the resource as well, I mean, the people I work with, demonstrates being very senior and open minded, which helps a lot.