“Test strategy” — Testing Guideline
What is Test Strategy?
A Test Strategy is a plan for defining the testing approach, and it answers to questions like what you want to get done and how you are going to accomplish it. It is most important document for any QA team in software testing, and effectively writing this document is a skill that every tester develops with experience.
How to prepare a good test strategy document:
Every organization has their unique priority and set of rules for software designing, so do not copy any organization blindly. Always ensure that their document is compatible and adds value to your software development before following the template.
Test Strategy in STLC:
Following are the sections of test strategy document:
- Scope and overview
- Test Approach
- Testing tools
- Industry standards to follow
- Test deliverables
- Testing metrics
- Requirement Traceability Matrix
- Risk and mitigation
- Reporting tool
- Test summary
We have seen what is test strategy document and what it contains. Let’s discuss each section of Test Strategy in STLC briefly.
Scope:
It defines parameters like
- Who will review the document?
- Who will approve this document?
- Testing activities carried out with timelines
Test Approach:
It defines
- Process of testing
- Testing levels
- Roles and responsibilities of each team member
- Types of Testing ( Load testing, Security testing, Performace testing etc.)
- Testing approach & automation tool if applicable
- Adding new defects, re-testing, Defect triage, Regression Testing and test sign off
Test Environment:
- Define number of requirement and setup required for each environment
- Define backup of test data and restore strategy
Testing Tools:
- Automation and Test management tools needed for test execution
- Figure out number of open-source as well as commercial tools required, and determine how many users are supported on it and plan accordingly
Release Control:
- Release management plan with appropriate version history that will make sure test execution for all modification in that release
Risk Analysis:
- List all risks that you can estimate
- Give a clear plan to mitigate the risks also a contingency plan
Review and Approvals:
- All these activities are reviewed and sign off by the business team, project management, development team, etc.
- Summary of review changes should be traced at the beginning of the document along with approved date, name, and comment
Test Summary:
This section lists out what kind of test summary reports will be produced along with the frequency. Test summary reports will be generated on a daily, weekly or monthly basis depends on how critical the project is.
Conclusion:
Software release goes through Test Strategy documents time to time to map the progress of testing in the right direction. When the release date is close many of these activities will be skipped, it is desirable to discuss with team members whether cutting down any particular activity will help for release without any potential risk.
