A QA outsourcing partner is chosen on five signals: who actually does the work, what you own when they leave, how they report bad news, whether they can test what's next (AI features), and how fast you can start small. Price per hour is the least predictive number in the deck.
The five questions
- Who reviews the work? If Senior leadership isn't hands-on in your engagement, you're paying Senior rates for junior output
- What do we own at exit? Frameworks, docs, and eval harnesses should be handed over, a partner you can't leave is a long-term risk
- Show me a report where you delivered bad news. Honest reporting is the entire value of external QA
- How do you test AI features? Most vendors have a slide; ask for the evaluation harness
- Can we start with one engineer or one audit? A partner confident in their work never needs a big-bang contract
The start-small pattern that works
The lowest-risk entry is a fixed-scope assessment: a 30-minute call, then written findings within days. You learn how the partner thinks before any commitment, and if the findings aren't sharp, you've lost nothing. That's exactly why we lead with a free one.
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