The Test Strategy and the Test Plan

Some more thoughts on test strategy and test plan.

Strategy follows vision. Vision
may be viewed as the desired future which is sought to be created or a
desired state that is sought to be reached. From a testing perspective,
when defining a vision for your test group, it might be easier to
articulate the vision in terms of what you envisage your group - to be
, to provide
, for whom and possibly when. This is not a template but a little aid to help with thinking about your vision.

The vision helps the
organization focus on its long term goals and where/what it wants to be.
The (test) strategy provides a road-map or approach to achieving these
goals. The strategy answers questions such as what do we do to reach our
objectives and identifying the means to achieve them. The (test) plan
however is tactical in its approach. The plan looks at deploying the
means described by the strategy to achieve the desired ends. The plan is
mainly about the how of testing and test execution.

At what level does a test strategy reside? It depends. There are test
strategies that are defined at an organization level and strategies
defined for a specific project or product. The nature of the testing
organization, whether centralized or de-centralized will also have some
bearing on how strategies are defined. In a centralized structure, the
chances of having a common high level strategy is definitely greater
when compared to a de-centralized structure where the inclination to
have a project or product specific strategy is greater. A test strategy
would include items such as the approach to testing, the test design
methodologies to use, techniques and tools to use, the levels and types
of testing to be performed, reporting requirements, configuration/change
management, defect tracking and reporting, etc.

Is the test plan part of the test strategy or vice versa? It depends on
whom you ask and what they think these terms mean. There are folks who
think a plan derives from a strategy while there are folks who believe
that the test strategy is part of a test plan. In some cases the
strategy is formulated per feature of a product too. It is important to
ensure that everyone involved understands what is implied by these terms
and how these tie in with your group's activities and objectives.