Do you have a small startup with insufficient funds for a QA department? Or perhaps you work in a large hi tech company with an under-utilized QA staff when waiting for versions to test or over-extended when a new version comes? A new service called uTest can provide you with a solution.
uTest introduces the first global marketplace for software application testing. uTest enables companies in need of software QA testing to access professional testers on-demand whenever/wherever they need them. The platform is all Web-based, therefore it is accessible anywhere, anytime from any computer screen by customers and testers alike.
Other advantages uTest offers to companies include:
1) Pay Per Bug model - companies only pay for actual bugs found by the uTest testers. This helps companies greatly reduce their QA costs.
2) Releasing a quality product from the start - companies don’t get a second chance in releasing products to market. Poor releases (as we saw with Vista) often result in a large percentage of defects being found by users first. This in turn leads to poor user satisfaction and a ”buggy” reputation which may never be repaired.
3) Ability to organize all your QA activity with uTest’s unique management tools - companies are able to manage QA cycles, projects, and processes on the platform with a very clean, easy to use interface. uTest is able to easily integrate into all major bug tracking systems for internal bug track management.
Application vendors can load or link their applications to the uTest testing platform, define target testers profile, and get information quickly regarding bugs and usability from the types of testers they have specifically chosen. The uTest system can also automatically alert duplicate bugs with its own proprietary (and patentable) technology.
uTest essentially provides companies with access to a lower cost workforce via a platform that enables management of full QA cycles without them having to commit to long-term contracts.
In conclusion, uTest helps companies reduce time to market, release higher quality products, receive real market feedback and usability reports, eliminate under-utilized testers, handle peak QA periods effectively, and increase user satisfaction.
uTest has recently started recruiting testers and is expected to launch in February 2008. For testers this is a professional opportunity to gain great and diverse professional experience, become part of a groundbreaking social network of people in their field, and earn a significant income based on their performance. The more actual bugs they find, the more they earn and the higher they are ranked.
Roy Solomon and Doron Reuveni, the founders of uTest, tell me that a few very exciting companies have already signed on with them, including GroupGain, a new marketplace that gives you the ability to join together with other shoppers to buy a product at the lowest price possible through bulk buying.
I believe that uTest answers a real need in the market and will better enable technology companies, however large or small, to come out with improved products for us, the users.
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