Scaling Multilingual QA Across Regions Without Sacrificing Quality

To scale multilingual QA while reducing internal burden, a major tech client partnered with Welo Data. The result: global team expansion, smooth remote onboarding, and over 99% on-time delivery without compromising performance.

6 Minutes
Digital world map made of pixelated squares with connecting arcs and circular nodes, symbolizing global connectivity and scaling multilingual QA across regions while maintaining consistent quality.

A global technology company managing highly confidential pre-release software needed to shift part of its QA (quality assurance) operations, previously handled entirely on-site in the U.S., to a remote setup.

The request came only a few months before a critical September release milestone. With no margin for error, Welo Data applied its proven QA framework to rapidly stand up global teams, replicate established processes abroad, and deliver consistent outcomes under time pressure.

This meant hiring and training linguists across Europe, setting up a new QA lab in India to support additional languages, and moving from a traditional staffing model to a managed service approach.

Even with these major changes, the team consistently delivered strong results: over 99% of tasks were completed on time, quality scores averaged just under 5 out of 5, and rejection rates stayed below 1%, well within the client’s expectations.

For over 17 years, the client relied on in-person teams in the U.S. to handle linguistic and functional QA for its software. This included testing operating systems and app interfaces in multiple languages, with strict confidentiality requirements.

In early 2024, the company decided to move part of this work to remote team for more flexibility and geographic reach. The shift allowed for global hiring, expanded language coverage, and a move from staffing support to a more hands-on vendor role. The initial goal was to have 30% of QA work done remotely by September 2025, with plans to reach 70% by mid-2026.

What made this project unique was not just the move to remote, but the requirement to replicate a mature, U.S.-based QA process in new regions with no loss of rigor. The success depended on embedding proven QA systems into every aspect of the transition.

The client asked us to move a long-standing, fully on-site QA process to a distributed global setup ahead of a critical release milestone. The request came only a few months before the deadline, creating intense time pressure and leaving no margin for error. Any disruption risked delaying a global product launch.

Several hurdles had to be overcome simultaneously:

Despite the compressed schedule, the goal was clear: deliver consistent, high-quality outcomes under pressure, while proving that a process built and refined over 17 years could be transformed into a distributed model with zero disruption.

To tackle the challenge, we focused on three key areas: hiring the right people, setting up the right infrastructure, and changing how the work was managed. 

Hiring Remote Talent in EMEA
We hired and onboarded linguists across Europe in under two months. To keep training aligned with the U.S.-based core team, we ran sessions in the evenings. We also set up local support teams to answer questions and handle any issues that came up during onboarding. All hires were trained and assessed against established QA benchmarks, with continuous monitoring to ensure alignment.

Building the India QA Lab
We set up a new lab in India from the ground up to cover additional Indic languages. Since this was a new region for the project, we adjusted workplace expectations and communication styles to fit local norms. This helped the new team settle in quickly and work effectively with global colleagues. Everyone was included in ongoing training and quality monitoring from the start.

Moving to a Managed Service Model
We shifted from simply providing staff to fully managing delivery. Our vendor project managers took charge of capacity planning, assigning tasks, and meeting deadlines. The client stepped back from daily oversight and focused instead on tracking KPIs. This reduced their workload and gave us more responsibility for delivery.

The transition was completed on time and went more smoothly than expected, despite the complexity of the changes. Not only did we meet the client’s targets, we surpassed them across every key performance indicator.

In both Q1 and Q2, over 99% of tasks were delivered on time, well above the 97% target. Quality scores averaged 4.94 out of 5 in Q1 and 4.93 in Q2, exceeding the minimum requirement of 4.0. Task rejection rates stayed well below the 3% threshold, with just 0.10% in Q1 and 0.35% in Q2.

Beyond the metrics:

As a result, the client’s internal workload decreased significantly, they gained broader coverage, faster turnaround, and a reduced internal workload. Our team now manages the full day-to-day delivery process, including task distribution, capacity planning, and quality monitoring. The client only steps in for exceptions, like tool outages or urgent escalations.

This project proved that with the right QA framework, even long-established, high-security processes can be restructured under time pressure while maintaining consistency and quality. With the right team and clear planning, it’s possible to move fast and still deliver reliably.

What we learned:

This setup is now a working model for scaling QA work globally, with strong delivery controls and quality fully intact.

Key Challenges

  • Needed to shift 30% of QA work to remote without compromising confidentiality
  • Hard-to-source language expertise across 24+ languages
  • No prior infrastructure for QA in India
  • Existing team setup wasn’t optimized for managed service delivery

Welo Data Solutions

  • Built and onboarded remote QA teams across Europe in under 2 months
  • Opened a new QA lab in India, covering  new languages
  • Shifted delivery model from staffing to full managed service
  • Exceeded KPIs with 99%+ on-time delivery and <1% rejection rate