testing resource models - pros and cons

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PERMANENT VS. CONTRACTOR VS. CONSULTANCY The Pro’s and Con’s of Different Sources of Testing Resources By Antony Barber – Quality Testing Support Ltd

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Page 1: Testing Resource Models - Pros and Cons

PERMANENT VS. CONTRACTOR VS. CONSULTANCYThe Pro’s and Con’s of Different Sources of Testing Resources

By Antony Barber – Quality Testing Support Ltd

Page 2: Testing Resource Models - Pros and Cons

BACKGROUND

• During my career in IT I have worked as a permanent employee, consultant and a contractor, experiencing the differences that each type of employment encounters

• This presentation is not a comprehensive review with lots of facts and figures. It is aimed at providing an insight to help organisations determine what strategy best suits them, with regards to resourcing their testing service

• There are Positives and Negatives to each type of resource model, but many organisations tend to look at the baseline cost, which might not always be the more efficient, cost effective option.

• When looking at resource options, demand, utilisation and retention should be considered equally with the cost of a resource.

Page 3: Testing Resource Models - Pros and Cons

THE ADVANTAGES OF PERMANENT STAFF TESTERS

• Permanent staff costs tend to be less in terms of salary, although additional benefits do increase the costs e.g. Pension, Holidays, Bonus. However you also need to factor in utilisation. Sometime when staff are not being fully utilised some more expensive options might be cheaper in the long run

• Over time permanent staff will increase their knowledge of the systems and the ways the organisation works grow. This will increase staff productivity

• Permanent staff can be easier to motivate through career progression and personal development as they can have an interest in a companies performance

• When staff have an emotional interest in the organisation they can proactively look for ways to improve the success of the organisation

• The longer permanent staff are with an organisation the more they can build stronger relationship with other teams and staff and create a real “team” environment

Page 4: Testing Resource Models - Pros and Cons

THE DISADVANTAGES OF PERMANENT STAFF TESTERS

• As staff get more experience and skills, unless the organisation has a good staff retentions policy in place, there is a risk the will leave and take a lot of knowledge with them. They could even be a single point of failure

• If an organisations demand drops below anticipated levels, this could result in staff with little or no work, or redundancies

• Poor performing staff can be difficult to remove resulting in poor delivery or resentment from other staff

• Some specialist skills can be challenging to recruit, especially for fixed term contracts or in demand technical specialists (e.g. Non Functional) and it is more difficult to keep them fully utilised.

• Permanent staff require an additional overhead for line management, training and personal development which is not required with other sources for resource

• With permanent in house resources the organisation has to fund and provide the appropriate tools, licences, training etc.

Page 5: Testing Resource Models - Pros and Cons

THE ADVANTAGES OF CONTRACT STAFF TESTERS

• Can be recruited relatively quickly and often require less bureaucratic hurdles to be crossed

• The should require less supervision on a day to day basis and be capable of progressing work quickly and efficiently

• While their base costs tend to be high there are no additional overheads such as Pension, Holiday or Bonus

• Contractors tend to have a lot of experience and can bring additional knowledge and skills outside the initial reason they were recruited providing additional benefits

• Can be “ramped down” quickly thereby reducing unnecessary expense or bad press through events like redundancy

• Can be used to mentor and develop permanent staff who can then take over the contractors role

• Generally don’t cost as much as consultancies

Page 6: Testing Resource Models - Pros and Cons

THE DISADVANTAGES OF CONTRACT STAFF TESTERS

• Tend to be more expensive than permanent staff although when permanent staff additional benefits are factored in, the additional costs are not as high as at first thought

• Contractors still require the company to provide tools, a work environment, management etc.

• When contractors leave they can take a lot of valuable knowledge with them. Organisation should look to replace contractors with permanent staff and do a full hand over, where this is there model

• Changing resources often can impact the team dynamic and there needs to be a proper induction process to integrate them quickly into a team

Page 7: Testing Resource Models - Pros and Cons

THE ADVANTAGES OF CONSULTANCY TESTERS

• Providing a service means overheads such as management fall to the consultancy rather than the customer

• Can include the use of tools (and licences) that greatly improve cost efficiency

• Provide a source of expert knowledge that can be used to assist the customer

• Route of escalation should performance or quality be poor

• Responsibility of consultancy to manage staff retention and should staff leave ensure suitable replacements are provided and handed over.

• Value add in terms of the depth of experience can drive local improvements

Page 8: Testing Resource Models - Pros and Cons

THE DISADVANTAGES OF CONSULTANCY TESTERS

• Consultancies are very expensive compared to permanent and contract staff

• Consultancies may have different objectives to the customer e.g. offering more services, resulting in additional costs

• Sometime use contractors thereby inflating the costs instead of organisations employing a contractor directly

• May incur additional costs for travel and accommodation

• Should a long term relationship deteriorate it can be difficult and costly to transition to a new supplier

• Quality of the service provided by the consultancy may deteriorate once they are established as the “A” team are used to obtain more business with other clients

Page 9: Testing Resource Models - Pros and Cons

SUMMARY

• Most testers tend to start in Functional Testing and these are often the easiest roles to recruit permanent testers into

• Contractors should be used to supplement teams with high demand or the need for specialist experience, but for no longer than 2 years

• If you are looking at roles that will be in existence more than 2 years you should look for permanent

• Consultancies should be used for testing activities that are very difficult to recruit for or retain, e.g. Non Functional & Automation

• Less than 2 years you should look at contract

• Consultancies should be used to enable a quick flex up / down model