Gagan Ahluwalia  - is the CEO of GlobalStep, a game testing company with offices in Dallas, Amsterdam and QA labs in Pune, India.  GlobalStep provides functionality and standards testing for publishers and developers in Europe and the U.S., on Consoles, PC, MMOG and Mobile platforms.

Mr. Ahluwalia, a thought leader in outsourcing strategies, was a partner in the firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.  He worked with clients in Europe and the U.S. to develop outsourcing strategies that reduced cost and enhanced capability for his clients.  He was an early adopter of ISO standards and six sigma quality processes in the early nineties and was one of the pioneers of the concept of outsourced data processing for business applications in India a decade earlier.

This session will focus on the role of quality assurance and its strategic importance in game publishing.

The specific issues addressed will include:

1. Should you outsource quality assurance or not? This will include a discussion on how to evaluate what is the right decision for your company and what are the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing and an analysis framework and evaluation criteria for decision making.
2. Near-shore vs. Off-shore: How the two are different and what are the most common pitfalls to off-shoring and what to look for in an outsourcing partner.
3. How can you make QA outsourcing work successfully to create a competitive advantage for you?

  The design of games
  Games in Asia