Software Testing Lab Locations and Reviews

A software testing lab is only needed for critical testing. When your project is ready for compatibility testing and validation of your defined minimum requirements, that’s when you need a lab. Much like a level, you never need one until it’s critical.

When shopping for software testing labs, it is imperative that you know what you are looking for before you become inundated with a sea of information that you may not know what to do with. Understand what your needs are prior to shopping or hunting for a lab online or on foot, car, etc.

How do you find a lab you can trust? How do you know if a virtual lab will meet your needs? When should the testing lab you choose contain the actual hardware you define?

Here we will cover what you need for a software testing lab and whether virtual or actual hardware fits the bill for your project. Then we list labs submitted by actual users. These reviews should help you decide which software testing lab has what you need and whether you should bother hiring them.

What Makes a Good Software Testing Lab?

1. The lab makeup must match your testing needs
If a lab can only approximate your minimum specifications, then you can’t accurately reproduce your user’s minimum spec experience. The minimum spec is a critical point of reference for users that can’t afford to purchase a new computer every 6 months.

If your minimum specifications are only approximate, then you should include that bit of info. Since that is most probably not your preferred solution, make sure you test the actual minimum specs. This is a key piece of information for the end user.

Any negative experience your customer has as a result of using your product on a minimum spec system will reflect on you and adversely affect your brand. Avoid this issue entirely by making certain that you test thoroughly on your defined minimum spec setup.

2. You must be able to trust (and reproduce) all tests performed in the lab
Your software testing lab setup must be precise and replicable. No test in a compatibility lab can be a one-time deal. Everything must be reproducible.

That means you must have detailed hardware and software information on each system in your test bed. Each computer, whether actual or virtual, needs to be charted. This way you can reproduce any and all tests at will. If your software testing lab cannot do this, then you need to move on to another, better one.

Each unique hardware combination needs to be detailed. The software configuration and combination on each machine must also be listed clearly; what software, which version(s), etc. Whether using an independent software testing company or working on your own in-house compatibility lab, follow those guidelines for best results. If you don’t, the information you collect will not be reliable.

Onsite vs. Virtual

However, virtual testing cannot accurately reproduce the use of actual hardware in every test case. Virtual testing can only accurately replicate known hardware issues.

If there is a new USB chipset in use that is not as reliable as the previous set, virtual testing will not know this. It can only replicate what it knows – why would it think that the new chipset is faulty?

For this reason, the SQA Team believes in “old-school” testing. For web-based applications and their ilk, virtual testing goes a long way toward ensuring accurate test coverage; it’s quick, customizable, and relatively inexpensive. But for anything else, we believe in using the actual hardware system listed in the specs.

Our experience has shown that to get a true gauge of a product’s capabilities and idiosyncrasies, we need a software testing lab that has actual hardware in it. We like hardware. It allows plugging and unplugging, reconfiguring, and detailed, real-world troubleshooting!

Automated testing under virtual conditions while in development can go a long way to quickly understand the state of a product. This is a wonderful capability of today’s technology! But if you rely solely on virtualization and avoid actual interaction with cold circuitry, you will not have the complete picture of your product.

How Can You Find a Software Testing Lab?

Other keyword searches you can enter to bring up a list of labs:
• PC testing lab
• Macintosh testing lab
• Computer (or PC or Mac) compatibility lab
• Etc.

One thing to note is that several of the listings will be for testing companies that have their own labs and will charge to do the testing for you. There is nothing wrong with this, if that meets your needs, but keep in mind that you are selecting a QA Partner to whom to outsource (at least part) your testing. Be aware of that going in.

If you live in or near any major metropolitan area, there is undoubtedly a selection of labs that you can employ. Even if you have to contract them to do some of the testing for you, most companies are very happy to have you come and test on site with them at their facility.

If you have the time, I encourage you to do so. If you don’t have the time, I recommend you make some. There is no substitute for actually seeing and experiencing first-hand how your software performs on an array of machines. You will gain a perspective that would elude you if you hadn’t participated in person at a software testing lab.

Recommendation:
The one lab that is a favorite here at Successful Quality Assurance – and we have personal experience with – is ADC Labs. That’s “Apple Developer Connection – Compatibility Labs”. Now, I realize that this does you no good if you are developing for the PC only, but if you are developing anything for an Apple OS, Apple Labs is a must-see, can’t-miss opportunity.

They now have labs worldwide. They are polite, professional, always helpful, and a pleasure to work with. These labs are exactly what you need if you are developing for an Apple OS! Go and see for yourself and then let us know what you think.

There are several national and international PC software testing labs that appear to have the goods as well. However, since we have always built and used our own compatibility labs, we will reserve judgment and leave recommendation of these labs to those that have experience with them.

User Reviews:
What Software Testing Lab Delivers for You?

Use the form on the bottom of the page to send us a review of the labs you have used – The SQA Team believes there is no better referral than that which comes from actual user experience. Tell us which software testing labs you have used, if you would use them again or not, and why.

Also include any other information that would help you make an informed choice. Think of what you would want to know if you had to choose a software testing lab again for the first time. What information is most critical to you?

Submit your reviews to us and we will publish them on this page. We will also be sure to publish any positive reviews in our E-zine. Tell us who you find to be reputable and we’ll make sure others know who they can trust!