Crowdtesting vs Internal QA team
Being a trend in the IT industry that can’t be put onto the back burner, crowdsourced testing seems to be an important addition to the internal QA team or even the substitution in some cases. The in-house team lacks some features as opposed to the crowdsourced testing team, and we have highlighted some key points that should be considered when developing your testing processes. Knowing the pros and cons of each approach will give you the understanding on how to benefit from both of them.
| Crowdsourced testing team | Internal QA team | |
| Number of testers | Unlimited You can have as many testers and man hours as you need, and you are not limited by the office space with the crowdtesting. | Limited You have to find, interview and hire necessary number of professionals and arrange their workplace. |
| Geographic location | Worldwide You have the ability to test your product wherever you want, in any region under real life conditions. | Limited You are limited by the location where your office is based. |
| Device coverage | Unlimited You can hire testers with necessary devices and OS version to test your software | Limited You have to purchase or lease necessary devices |
| Testing costs | Flexible “Pay-as-you-go” model. You pay only for net hours of active testing time. | Ongoing expenses Staff salary + management costs |
| Overhead costs | None | It’s all on you Office lease, paid vacation, sick leaves etc. |
| Professional consultation | Included You will be given recommendations on testing strategy and workflow based on a solid previous experience + best industry practices | None You have to build your own testing strategy being limited to your experience, and make your own mistakes |
| User feedback | Professional & detailed Reviews from testers who know the common user behavior and industry best practices | Random You have to carry out beta-testing, collect the crowd first, motivate them to participate, collect their feedback and analyze it by your own efforts |
| Marketing survey | Unlimited Huge worldwide audience of a particular location — , gender, age. Just specify your target group. | Limited You have to find an audience by your own efforts |
| In-the-field testing | Possible You can differentiate the testing by a region, mobile provider and carrier. Just hire testers with devices that meet your specific needs and testing requirements. | Limited You can only rely on your team and its capabilities. |
| Project management | Fixed one-time payment for project kick-off activities | Monthly salary for your PM |
This table gives a rough idea of strengths and weaknesses of each approach. Choose the approach that better meets your requirements, to make your testing process more productive and cost-efficient!
