Purpose of Test Strategy

Strategy is - “An idea that guides the design."

Do I need ideas to guide my test design? Yes, if I want to do it well. Actually, in my terms, every tester has a test strategy. The questions are: how well does it work, is the tester aware of it, and can the tester describe it? Is it necessary to document it?

A Test Strategy document outlines the "big picture" - basically it lays out all the big blocks of testing. A very succinct example would be "We will do unit testing, followed by integration and system testing. After those are successful, we move to performance testing, followed by UAT."

Some companies include the “Test Approach” or “Strategy” inside the Test Plan, which is fine and it is usually the case for small projects. However, for larger projects, there is one Test Strategy document and different number of Test Plans for each phase or level of testing.

Here are few reasons for writing test strategy

• The number one reason of writing a test strategy document is to "have" an approved document, which includes a written testing methodology, tools to be used and defines exit criteria.
• The test strategy document tells us how the software product will be tested.
• The creation of a test strategy document presents an opportunity to review the test plan with the project team.
• The test strategy document describes the roles, responsibilities, and the resources required for the test and schedule constraints.
• When we create a test strategy document, we have to put into writing any testing issues requiring resolution (and usually this means additional negotiation at the project management level).
• The test strategy is decided first, before lower level decisions are made on the test plan, test design, and other testing issues.
• Finally, having a test strategy does satisfy one important step in the software testing process.