Hi guys, whether test strategy and test plan are same , or if it is different in what sense it is different.

because i studied many definition it is bit confusion for me.

thanks in advance.

hi balaji,

TEST STRATEGY is a company level document developed by quality analyst people.This document defines the testing approach to be followed by the testing team. it consists of

1) Scope and objective: The purpose of testing in an organization
2) Business issues: Budget control for testing
3) Testing approach: That is the TRM ( Test responsibility Matrix)
4) Test Delivarables: Names of the testing documents to be prepared by the Testing Team.
5) Roles and Responsibilities: Names of jobs in the testing team and their responsibilities
6)Communication and status reporting: Required negotiation between two jobs in a team
7) Test automation and Tools: Availability of testing tools and purpose of automation
8) Defect reporting and Tracking: required negotiation between testing and development teams
9) Risks and Migitations: Expected failures during testing and solutions to overcome
10) Change and Configuration management: How to handle sudden changes in customer requirements.
11) Training plan :


on the other hand TEST PLAN is a document which defines basically..
1) what to test?
2) how to test ?
3) when to test ?
4) who to test?

Documentation specifying the scope, approach, resources, and schedule of intended testing activities. It identifies test items, the features to be tested, the testing tasks, responsibilities, required, resources, and any risks requiring contingency planning
Test lead prepares this document. It is normally defined in IEEE829 format which is as follows
1 ) Test plan ID : Unique number or name
2) Introduction : About project
3) Test Items: Names of all modules in the project.
4) Features to be tested :
5)Features not to be tested:
6) Tessting approach: finalized TRM, selected testing techniques
7) Entry Criteria : When testing can be started
8) Exit Criteria : when testing can be stopped
9)Fail or Pass criteria:
10) Test Environment : The environment where the test is to be carried out.
11) Test Delivarables:
12) Staff and training
13) Roles and Responsibilities
14 ) Project starting and End dates
15) Risks and migitations.

Hi Balaji,

Murali is correct!!!
Just to put it in simple words....

Test Strategy is a high level document. In which you will be talking about complete testing project.
It will talk only on what approaches will be taken, which types of testing will be done like Performance, Functionality etc...

Test Plan is a detailed document. You will have different test plans like Performance test plan, Unit test plan, System/Integration test plan ......
Here you will talk in detail like how you wish to go about it, are you using any tools, Parameters that you will be testing.... and everyting will be specific only to that particular testing (Performance,System/Integration).

Hope I have cleared it a bit....
You can always get back incase of doubts.

Regards,
Tina.