What is “third party verification” in software development? Four points to choose a high-quality company

Table of contents

1. What is “third-party verification” in software development?
   • The need for software testing
   • What is third-party verification?
2. Benefits of third-party verification
   • Increases the rate of discovering defects that are often overlooked
   • There is no longer a need for test personnel to be permanently stationed, allowing resources to be dedicated to development.
   • This leads to cost reduction
   • Can be used as collateral for trust and as an asset
3. Disadvantages of third-party verification
   • There is a cost to request
   • The quality may be low depending on the manufacturer.
4. 4 points to choose a high-quality third-party verification company
   • Have a systematic in-house testing method
   • We have a solid training system for our staff.
   • Can provide systematic test documentation
   • We have accumulated a wealth of verification experience in each domain.
5. summary

1. What is “third-party verification” in software development?

Testing is always necessary before releasing software into the world.
This chapter explains the necessity of software testing and what third-party verification is.

The need for software testing

Testing is also very important to avoid software problems. High-performance software has a complex structure and there is a possibility that problems may occur during use, so it is necessary to test it in advance to confirm whether it can be operated in various environments.

If software is released without testing, the following risks may occur:

・Increased costs
・Loss of time
・Deterioration of trust and brand image
・System failures and accidents

Correcting defects is costly and time-consuming, and once a major problem occurs, it not only damages the company’s image but also threatens its very existence. Software testing is necessary to improve software quality and minimize future risks.

What is third-party verification?

“Third-party verification” refers to the verification and evaluation of the quality of the software or system being tested by a third party not involved in the development.

By having a third party perform the verification, you can expect various advantages, such as increasing the objectivity and reliability of the verification and reducing costs.

2. Benefits of third-party verification

There are four benefits of third-party verification:

• Increases the rate of discovering defects that are often overlooked
• There is no longer a need for test personnel to be permanently stationed, allowing resources to be dedicated to development.
• This leads to cost reduction
• Can be used as collateral for trust and as an asset

I will explain each one.

Increases the rate of discovering defects that are often overlooked

By performing third-party verification, you can increase the rate of discovering defects that are often overlooked by developers. This is because it is difficult for anyone to notice their own mistakes.

The human brain is not free from “beliefs”. In particular, when you test software that you have created, you tend to have the belief that it should work properly or that you want it to work properly. Therefore, third-party verification is also effective for software testing.

Also, the difference between the “creator’s perspective” and the “user’s perspective” is one of the reasons why developers tend to overlook mistakes. Several types of defects can be discovered through software testing. It is relatively possible to discover defects even if the developer or operator performs the normal functional operations described in the specifications themselves.
However, “defects that are discovered only under specific conditions,” such as abnormal operations, error handling, prohibition handling, and interrupt handling, which tend to be lightly described in specifications, tend to be left out in general testing. There is a tendency.

Additionally, during testing, it is necessary to focus not only on the functionality of the system, but also on ease of use, safety, convenience, etc., and verification from the perspective of so-called non-functional requirements. These non-functional defects tend to be overlooked when the development period is urgent and there is no time to spare.

That’s why third-party verification by test engineers with an unbiased third-party perspective and a variety of testing experience and skills increases the rate of discovering defects that are often overlooked.

There is no longer a need for test personnel to be permanently stationed, allowing resources to be dedicated to development.

The second benefit of introducing third-party verification into the testing process is that it eliminates the need for on-site testing personnel. By separating “testing” and “development,” human resources previously used for testing can be dedicated to development work.

This leads to cost reduction

The third benefit is that implementing third-party verification can lead to cost reductions.

If a defect is discovered after the software is released, it can be expensive to fix. However, if we introduce third-party verification and can detect problems early, we can reduce rework and reduce costs.

Recently, third-party verification companies have been involved from the stage of reviewing specifications before implementation, and many cost reductions have been reported by pointing out omissions and ambiguous areas in the specifications and correcting them.

Additionally, as mentioned above, by outsourcing testing personnel to a third-party verification company, it is possible to reduce the cost of resident testing personnel during the slow development period.

Can be used as collateral for trust and as an asset

When contracting out testing work, some third-party verification companies can provide high-quality test documents such as test plans, test design specifications, test cases, and test summary reports as deliverables.

These test documents can guarantee the safety of the software, so we can guarantee trust to our clients.

In addition, the documents provided by high-quality third-party verification companies are created based on the knowledge of specialized companies, so they can be used as assets for reference in future development projects.

3. Disadvantages of third-party verification

Third-party verification has many benefits, but there are also some points to be careful of. Let’s take a look at it before implementing it to avoid any mistakes or regrets.

There is a cost to request

Since third-party verification is outsourced, it costs money in addition to the development cost. If you don’t use it properly, you will end up losing money, so you need to be careful.

The quality may be low depending on the manufacturer.

Third-party verification has many benefits, but not all vendors guarantee high quality and peace of mind. Depending on the vendor, the quality may be low, or the quality may vary depending on the person in charge, making it unstable.

Therefore, choosing a vendor is also important. In the next chapter, we will explain the points to consider when choosing a high-quality third-party verification company.

Four. Points to consider when choosing a high-quality third-party verification company

In this chapter, we will discuss the following four points when choosing a high-quality third-party verification company.

• Have a systematic in-house testing method
• We have a solid training system for our staff.
• Can provide systematic test documentation
• We have accumulated a wealth of verification experience in each domain.

I will explain each one.

① Have a systematic in-house testing method

As a third-party verification company, it is important to have a consistent testing process and methodology. A high-quality third-party verification company has a testing perspective and test design method that can thoroughly test abnormal systems and non-functional requirements even if they are not listed in the development specifications. We have a method to systematically find defects that are often overlooked.

② The company has a solid training system for its staff.

Tests tend to be “individual”. If the engineers assigned by a third-party verification testing company have different ways of thinking, they cannot be entrusted with testing with confidence. A high-quality third-party verification company also has a system in place to systematically educate its engineers on the systematic testing methods introduced in point 1. This allows us to always provide testing services of a consistent quality.

③ Can provide systematic test documentation

Without high-quality test documentation, software quality cannot be guaranteed. Test plans, test designs, test cases, and test summary reports are written in an easy-to-understand and objective manner. Be reusable. The key to choosing a high-quality third-party verification company is that it can be used as an asset for specification changes and timely updates.

④ We have accumulated a wealth of verification experience in each domain.

Our extensive testing experience ensures a systematic testing method. Software testing requires not only domain knowledge such as embedded systems, business systems, and web systems, but also specialized business knowledge. When choosing a third-party verification company, it is important to consider how many domain test cases the company has experienced in the past.

When choosing a high-quality third-party verification company, please consider whether it meets these points.

summary

Third-party verification is when a third party not involved in the development verifies or evaluates the quality of the software or system being tested.

In recent years, software has become increasingly important in our modern lives. If you can successfully utilize a good third-party verification company at your development site, you can expect great effects in improving software quality, costs, and delivery times.