Adil Dastoor
April 23, 2025
10 Minutes read
Building an Effective IT Software Project Test Strategy
A test strategy document is a comprehensive and holistic document that encompasses a 360-degree view of testing activities planned for the software program or project.
In many cases, a test strategy document is a mandatory requirement from a Process and regulatory perspective. This document forms an overarching baseline for further detailed testing activities.
Typically, the test strategy document should be compiled, and signed off by stakeholders by the middle of the build phase.
Understanding the Objectives of Test Strategy
The objectives of an effective test strategy document are to:
- Develop a comprehensive approach to test activities that will lead to a ‘0 Production Defect’ vision for the Business.
- Evaluate and identify an optimized set of possible tests and covering phases/ cycles that need to be carried out to give maximum test coverage and manage intermittent changes/ upgrade impacts.
- Streamline roles and responsibilities across the various business and IT stakeholders and partner teams involved.
- Establish clear channels of communication based on locations, languages & reporting structures.
- Assess & identify tools to support the overall testing activities.
- Setup cross-location, cross-time zone processes towards information exchange
- Identify phase-specific milestones to track overall progress.
- Evaluate & identify impacts due to parallel projects.
- Identify RAID (Risks, Actions, Issues, & Dependencies) and track them on an ongoing basis.
**Note: Depending on the type of project (Greenfield i.e., new COTS – Commercial Off the Shelf implementation or Brownfield (Upgrade) implementation, patches/ updates, Infrastructure, or Tool implementation), a few more customized objectives may get added/ updated
Responsibilities - Test Strategy Writing and Approvals
Typically, an experienced test manager or a test architect should coordinate the document, and all primary stakeholders, as below, need to review and sign off. Although following a template is recommended at the start, there should be flexibility in adding sections/updates as per discussions.
- Portfolio manager/product owner – Business
- Program/project manager – IT
- Solution Architect/end-to-end technical architect – IT
- QA/testing head – IT
- Partner/ Vendor Project Manager(s)
**Note: This is not an exhaustive list & can be updated based on needs & project delivery mechanism (Agile/Waterfall/Hybrid)
Approach
The test strategy document may include the following agenda items and more may be added based on the project type and scope.
- Testing Objectives: <what is expected out of the testing phase & cycles> (1 page)
- Scope: <In scope & out of scope category of items towards the testing phase in the project> (1 page)
- Testing Timelines: <Visual & cycle level representation of testing timelines> (1 page)
- Test Cycles/ Phases & Entry & Exit Criteria
- Test Environment Setup
- Tools Summary
- RACI (Responsible/ Accountable/ Consulted & Informed) Matrix
- RAID (Risks/ Actions/ Issues & Dependencies) Log
- Test Management Tool Setup/ Parameters (Definitions or values of Modules, Priority, Severity, Defect Category, Defect Root Cause, etc.)
- Reporting
- Appendix (Technical Architecture, Credits, References, etc.)
Things to keep in mind while identifying scope and approach.
- Multi-channel approach for testing. For example, tests through a mobile app or browser instead of just desktop/ laptop browser-based tests.
- Test cases to support different languages apart from English.
- Test cases to have precise coverage mapping using RTM (Requirement Traceability Matrix)
- Test cases should be written in a pre-defined template, as supported by the test management tool, for a smart upload method.
- All Integrations to external applications – through either Web Services/APIs, file transfer, or other means
- Data migration/conversion testing
- Data warehouse testing
- Security testing – correct access to correct roles to correct users
- Negative/boundary tests
- Batch jobs
- Email notifications/approvals]
- Impersonations – authorized proxy access for user accounts
Tips for the Test Strategy document
- Do not keep the document too bulky – use links to external documents instead of attaching copies.
- Version Control the document for each revision.
- Recommended Initial unapproved versions: 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, etc.
- Post initial sign-off: v1.0
- Addendums post them: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc.
Conclusion
A test strategy needs to be examined, with a long-term vision of bringing quantified & qualified positive impact towards the ‘0 Production Defect’ vision for the Program. Explaining the clear vision and impact enables all stakeholders to be on the same page. Additionally, it helps all stakeholders manage individual team and partner vendor communications, allowing less friction at a later stage. Most importantly, the Test Strategy needs to keep evolving and should be used as a basis for all stages of testing.
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