IT outsourcing, nearshoring, offshoring... these are all wonderful terms which, in essence, refer to the transfer of the management and maintenance of an IT environment to an external party. The question is whether this also means that you are relinquishing all of your responsibilities with regard to a properly functioning IT environment. Strangely enough, this often seems to be the case. Consciously, unconsciously or driven by the wrong motivator such as cost reduction.
User, applications and own management
Let us go back to the bare essentials of an application and its use. An application is nothing but a computer programme intended for the end user. It does not get any simpler than that. A user is enabled to do his/her work by means of an application. Demand management ensures that the user can continue to do this but also smarter and better by adding/adapting functionalities based on requirements. For testing, demand management often follows the process of the FAT (functional application test) and the GAT (user acceptance test). This is a common process for a functional manager. However, we regularly see that this process logic suddenly disappears when an organisation decides to outsource IT.
User, applications and IT outsourcing
It has often been established that IT outsourcing is complex and not without risks. Attributed benefits such as cost savings and focus on the core business even seem to have the opposite effect on a regular basis. Or even worse, the loss of grip on the (further) development of the functionality of the applications used. Of course, there are plenty of cases known of successful IT Outsourcing processes. One characteristic of these is that they have remained in control of the requirements and functionalities of the applications used by the business.
Let's go back to the bare essentials of the applications used by the business. Because even in a situation of IT outsourcing, an application is nothing more than a computer programme intended for the end user. And as an organisation, you want to keep a grip on that.
Grip on your business with IT Outsourcing
Strangely enough, we see that many organisations suddenly relinquish grip and control when it comes to IT outsourcing. The FAT and GAT tests suddenly seem less or not at all important because the testing process is completely handed over to the outsourcing partner. This is very strange, because a large part of the way in which the business does its work becomes dependent on the outsourcing partner. The argument used is that the outsourcing partner performs the testing process. Strange, very strange, because the outsourcing partner has almost no interest in how customers run their business. Let alone that they have full knowledge of it. This knowledge lies with the customer. The client actually lets the outsourcing partner, proverbially, judge his own meat. the outsourcing partner tojudge his own meat.
If you want to keep a grip on how the business works and be able to be flexible in this, it is necessary to keep the test process in your own hands. By using a good SaaS tool to support the test management process, this is perfectly feasible!
