Download Free Software Test Strategy Template and learn how to create a good test strategy document.
A software testing strategy outlines the approach, goals, scope and methods of testing an application. A well-designed test strategy document enables planning of testing, selection of test types and tools, risk management, and creation of entry and exit criteria.
In this tutorial, we describe how to develop a test strategy document and provide you with a test strategy template along with a sample Agile project that you can use according to your testing requirements.
=> Click Here For Complete Test Plan Tutorial Series
What Is a Test Strategy Template?
A test strategy template is a document, which describes the testing approach, which includes testing goals, scope, test types, testing environment, test tools, roles, risks, entry and exit criteria, testing metrics and approvals, among other things. The test strategy template can be customized depending upon project and testing requirements.
Test Strategy Document Template
[Download the Test Strategy Document Template (Word)]
Sample Test Strategy for an Agile Project
[Download the Sample Test Strategy Document for an Agile Project (Word)]
What Is a Test Strategy?
A test strategy is a macro-level document that defines the whole concept behind the software testing process, the guiding principles to follow during testing and its objectives within a particular software project or in an entire organization. It forms the basis of a blueprint on how the testing activities will be carried out within the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
In short, test strategy means “How you are going to test the application?”
Writing a Test Strategy effectively is a skill that every tester should achieve in their career. It initiates your thought process and helps to discover many missing requirements. Thinking and test planning activities help the team to define the Testing scope and Test coverage.
It helps Test managers to get the clear state of the project at any point. The chances of missing any test activity are very low when there is a proper test strategy in place.
Test execution without any plan rarely works. I know teams who write strategy documents but never refer back while test execution. The Testing Strategy plan must be discussed with the whole team so that the team will be consistent with its approach and responsibilities.
In tight deadlines, you can’t just waive any testing activity due to time pressure. It must at least go through a formal process before doing so.
Key Objectives of a Test Strategy
• Set Quality Standards: Defines standards of success, coverage, and performance.
• Specify Testing Layers: Defines the types of testing such as unit, integration, system, performance, security, and regression testing.
• Mitigate Operational Risks: Identifies possible risks and formulates strategies on how to mitigate them.
• Standardization: Standardizes the whole process of testing, testing environment, tools and bug reporting.
Core Components of a Test Strategy
| Component | Focus Area |
| Objectives & Scope | Defines functional/non-functional areas included in or excluded from testing. |
| Test Approach | Details testing methodologies (e.g., Shift-Left, Agile, Waterfall) and test levels. |
| Environment & Data | Outlines staging setups, test data privacy, masking, and synthetic generation. |
| Automation & CI/CD | Defines automation scope, test frameworks, and integration into delivery pipelines. |
| Defect Management | Sets bug severity/priority definitions, triage workflows, and issue tracking protocols. |
| Release Criteria | Establishes Entry and Exit criteria (e.g., zero open P1 defects) for release sign-off. |
Test Strategy Vs. Test Plan
Over the years, I have seen a lot of confusion between these two documents. So let’s start with the basic definitions. Generally, it doesn’t matter which comes first. The test planning document is a combination of strategy plugged with an overall project plan. According to IEEE Standard 829-2008, the Strategy plan is a sub-item of a test plan.
Every organization has its own standards and processes to maintain these documents. Some organizations include strategy details in the test plan itself (here is a good example of this). Some organizations list strategy as a subsection in a testing plan but details are separated out in different test strategy documents.
Project scope and test focus are defined in the test plan. Basically, it deals with test coverage, features to be tested, features not to be tested, estimation, scheduling and resource management.
Whereas the test strategy defines guidelines for test approach to be followed in order to achieve the test objectives and execution of test types defined in the testing plan. It deals with test objectives, approaches, test environments, automation strategies and tools, and risk analysis with a contingency plan.
To summarize, the Test Plan is a vision of what you want to achieve and the Test Strategy is an action plan designed to achieve this vision!
The below table will highlight core differences between Test Strategy Vs. Test Plan
| Feature | Test Strategy | Test Plan |
| Definition | Detailed document describing the testing strategy for the entire organization or project. | The operational plan defining the particular scope, purpose, schedule, and resources of a release or project phase. |
| Level & Scope | Organizational / Project-level (static and long-term). | Project Phase (release/Sprint) level (dynamic, frequently revised). |
| Created By | QA Manager, Test Lead, or Solutions Architect. | QA Lead, Test Engineer, or Project Manager. |
| Primary Goal | Specifies WHICH testing strategy to use and WHY. | Identifies HOW, WHEN, WHO, and WHERE to perform tests. |
| Flexibility | Created at the beginning and remains relatively constant through the entire software life cycle. | Often revised according to the project progress, scope, and schedule. |
| Key Components | Includes objectives, test levels, approach to automation and tools, risk management strategy, defect life cycle. | Test scope (what is in-scope and what is out-of-scope), resources, schedules/timelines, environment specifications, entry and exit criteria, deliverables. |
| Derivation | Based on business objectives, architecture design, and industry best practices. | Produced according to the Test Strategy and Software Requirement Specification (SRS). |
I hope this will clear all your doubts. James Bach has more discussion on this topic here.
What Should a Test Strategy Include?
The test strategy must describe an overall plan, scope, objectives, resources, and processes to be used in the testing process in the entire project. The strategy must describe what needs to be tested, how it will be tested, and the environment and tools that will be used for the tests.
The following table provides a clear overview of the key components that should be included in a Test Strategy document.
| Component | Description | Key Deliverables & Focus |
| 1. Objectives & Scope | Sets the scope and objectives of the testing process. | • In-Scope vs. Out-of-Scope features • Success criteria & risk mitigation goals |
| 2. Test Approach & Types | Provides a detailed description of testing methods that will be performed. | • Functional (Unit, Integration, System, E2E) • Non-Functional (Performance, Security, Usability) |
| 3. Test Environment | Describes all the necessary arrangements of hardware, software, network, and systems. | • Staging & QA environment configurations • Environment availability & access rules |
| 4. Test Data Management | Provides guidelines on generation, management, and security of test data. | • Synthetic data generation & database masking • Data privacy & compliance rules |
| 5. Automation Strategy | Automated testing frameworks, tools, and scope. | • Scope of automated regression tests • Tool selection (e.g., Selenium, Playwright) • CI/CD pipeline execution triggers |
| 6. Defect Management | How to report, track, and resolve bugs. | • Defect severity & priority classifications • Bug lifecycle workflow & triage schedule |
| 7. Entry & Exit Criteria | When to start and complete testing cycles. | • Entry: Code freeze, stable environment • Exit: Pass rate targets, zero open high-severity bugs |
| 8. Metrics & Deliverables | How to track progress and approve quality. | • Key Metrics (Pass/Fail %, Defect Density) • Reports (Test Plan, Traceability Matrix, Summary Report) |
| 9. Risks & Contingencies | Identifies potential blockers and operational risks. | • Risk register (e.g., environment downtime, delayed builds) • Fallback & mitigation actions |
How to Create a Test Strategy Document Step by Step
Don’t just follow the templates without understanding what works best for your project. Every client has its own requirements and you must stick to the things that work perfectly for you. Do not blindly copy any organization or any standard. Always make sure that it is helping you and your processes.
Below is a sample strategy template that will outline what should be covered in this plan along with some examples to illustrate what makes sense to cover under each component.
Test Strategy in STLC:
[image source]
Common Sections of Test Strategy Document
Step #1: Scope And Overview
Project overview along with information on who should use this document. Also, include details like who will review and approve this document. Define testing activities and phases to be carried out with timelines with respect to overall project timelines defined in the test plan.
Step #2: Test Approach
Define the testing process, level of testing, roles, and responsibilities of every team member.
For every test type defined in the Test plan (For Example, Unit, Integration, System, Regression, Installation/Uninstallation, Usability, Load, Performance, and Security testing) describe why it should be conducted along with details like when to start, test owner, responsibilities, testing approach and details of automation strategy and tool if applicable.
In test execution, there are various activities like adding new defects, defect triage, defect assignments, re-testing, regression testing and finally test sign-off. You must define the exact steps to be followed for each activity. You can follow the same process that worked for you in your previous test cycles.
A Visio presentation of all these activities including a number of testers and who will work on what activities would be very helpful to quickly understand the roles and responsibilities of the team.
For example, defect management cycle – mention the process to log the new defect. Where to log in, how to log new defects, what should be the defect status, who should do defect triage, whom to assign defects after triage etc.
Also, define the change management process. This includes defining change request submissions, templates to be used, and processes to handle the request.
Step #3: Test Environment
The test environment setup should outline information about the number of environments and the required setup for each environment. For example, one test environment for the functional test team and another for the UAT team.
Define the number of users supported in each environment, access roles for each user, software and hardware requirements like operating system, memory, free disk space, number of systems, etc.
Defining test data requirements is equally important. Provide clear instructions on how to create test data (either generate data or use production data by masking fields for privacy).
Define test data backup and restore strategy. The test environment database may run into problems due to unhandled conditions in the code. I remember the problems we faced on one of the projects when there was no database backup strategy defined and we lost all the data due to code issues.
Backup and restore process should define who will take backups when to take a backup, what to include in backup when to restore the database, who will restore it and the data masking steps to be followed if the database is restored.
Step #4: Testing Tools
Define test management and automation tools required for test execution. For performance, load and security testing, describe the test approach and tools required. Mention whether it is an open source or commercial tool and how many users are supported on it and plan accordingly.
Step #5: Release Control
As mentioned in our UAT article, unplanned release cycles can result in different software versions in test and UAT environments. The release management plan with proper version history will ensure test execution of all modifications in that release.
For example, set build management process which will answer – where new build should be made available, where it should be deployed, when to get the new build, from where to get the production build, who will give the go, the no-go signal for production release, etc.
Step #6: Risk Analysis
List all the risks that you envision. Provide a clear plan to mitigate these risks along with a contingency plan in case you see these risks in reality.
Step #7: Review And Approvals
When all these activities are defined in the test strategy 1plan, they need to be reviewed for sign-off by all entities involved in project management, business team, development team, and system administration (or environment management) team.
A summary of the review changes should be tracked at the beginning of the document along with the approver’s name, date and comment. Also, it’s a living document meaning this should be continuously reviewed and updated with testing process enhancements.
Test Strategy Best Practices
Having a clear and concise testing strategy will ensure that the testing process is consistent and efficient throughout the course of the project. Make sure that your testing strategy is pragmatic, meets project requirements and can be comprehended by all stakeholders.
- Align testing strategy with project requirements: Establish testing objectives in accordance with business requirements, risks and expected outcome.
- Establish scope: Define the scope of testing and areas that fall outside of the scope to avoid any misunderstandings and additional testing effort.
- Prioritize testing by risk: Conduct testing efforts on key product functionality, business processes, integrations and high-risk areas.
- Start planning testing early: Engage in QA early in the process – during the requirements and sprints planning to establish testing dependencies, test data and environment setup.
- Apply automation appropriately: Apply automated testing to stable and repetitive regression testing scenarios while leaving exploratory testing and usability testing manual.
- Make testing strategy maintainable: Update the document in case of major changes in the scope of work, technology used, risks and testing strategy.
- Establish measurable criteria: Define test coverage, defect status and execution of critical scenarios as measurable criteria for exiting testing phase.
- Communicate testing risks and results: Share testing progress, significant defects, risks and quality metrics regularly with respective stakeholders.
Simple Tips to Write a Test Strategy Document
- Include product background in the test strategy document. Answer the first paragraph of your test strategy document – Why do stakeholders want to develop this project? This will help us understand and prioritize things quickly.
- List all the important features you are going to test. If you think some features are not a part of this release then mention those features under “Features not to be tested” label.
- Write down a test approach for your project. Clearly, mention what type of testing you are going to conduct?
i.e., Functional testing, UI testing, Integration testing, Load/Stress testing, Security testing, etc. - Answer questions like how you are going to perform functional testing? Manual or automation testing? Are you going to execute all the test cases from your test management tool?
- Which bug tracking tool are you going to use? What will be the process when you find a new bug?
- What are your test entry and exit criteria?
- How will you track your testing progress? What metrics are you going to use for tracking test completion?
- Task distribution – Define the roles and responsibilities of each team member.
- What documents will you produce during and after the testing phase?
- What risks do you see in Test completion?
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is a test strategy document?
The test strategy document is an overarching quality assurance framework that outlines the overall strategy, goals, and standards for testing software throughout an entire organization or project. It is a set of static guidelines.
2. What should a test strategy document contain?
The test strategy should include key elements of a test strategy:
•          Scope & Objectives: Areas within scope and not in scope from a functional and non-functional perspective.
•          Test Levels & Types: Approaches to unit, integration, system, regression, performance, and security testing.
•          Automation Strategy: Scope of test automation, tools used and CI/CD integration rules.
•          Environment & Data: Test environments settings and data privacy/data generation strategy.
•          Defect Management: Severity/priority classification, defect life cycle and bug triages schedule.
•          Quality Metrics & Entry/Exit Criteria: Pass/fail criteria, coverage target levels and release sign-off criteria.
3. What is the difference between a test strategy and a test plan?
Test Strategy: High-level and static document that defines how testing will be performed in general terms. Is applicable for a project or long release and does not change very often.
•          Test Plan: Low-level and dynamic document that covers what, when and who. Includes detailed schedules, resource allocation, test cases and deliverables for the specific sprint or project release.
4. Who prepares the test strategy document?
The test strategy is usually written by senior quality engineering leaders like QA Manager, Test Lead or QA Architect along with the project managers and technical and business stakeholders.
5. Is a test strategy required in Agile?
Yes, but it is done in a much simpler way. In place of a long and cumbersome test strategy document, the agile methodology follows the lean test strategy based on continuous integration, automated regression testing, acceptance criteria in sprints and the philosophy of shift-left testing in order to keep the velocity and quality intact.
6. Can a test strategy be used as a test plan?
No. The test strategy is just a roadmap and it doesn’t include any details regarding execution within a project like timelines, resource allocation and day-to-day activities and even the execution strategy at feature level. Though in smaller teams a hybrid document can be created.
Conclusion
Test Strategy is not a piece of paper. It’s the reflection of all QA activities in the software testing life cycle. Refer to this document from time to time during the test execution process and follow the plan till the software release.
When the project nears its release date, it’s fairly easy to cut down on testing activities by ignoring what you have defined in the test strategy document. However, it is advisable to discuss with your team whether or not cutting down on any particular activity will help for release without any potential risk of major issues post-release.
Most agile teams cut down on writing strategy documents as team focus is on test execution rather than documentation.
But having a basic test strategy plan always helps to clearly plan and mitigate risks involved in the project. Agile teams can capture and document all high-level activities to complete test execution on time without any issues.
I’m sure that developing a good Test Strategy plan and committing to follow it will definitely improve the testing process and quality of the software. It would be my pleasure if this article inspires you to write a Test Strategy plan for your project!
If you like this post please consider sharing it with your friends!
=> Visit Here For Complete Test Plan Tutorial Series
Was this helpful?
Recommended Reading
-
An Ultimate Guide to Software Test Plan Document: This tutorial will explain to you all about Software Test Plan Document and guide you with the ways on how to write/create a detailed Software Testing plan from scratch along with the differences between Test Planning and Test Execution. Live Project QA…
-
Understand the difference between Test Plan, Test Strategy, Test Case, Test Script, Test Scenario, and Test Condition with examples. Software Testing includes several basic and important concepts that every software tester should know. This article will explain the various concepts in Software Testing along with their comparison. To make things…
-
From last couple of days I am getting more request on Sample test plan.So for your reference I am including one sample test plan template here. Its a Index of Test plan only.Each point will help you to elaborate your test plan step by step.
-
Let us understand how to prepare a test plan and write test cases for ERP Application. This is part-2 of the ERP testing series. Let's get started. In the previous article of this series, we have seen few key points of ERP like the real meaning of the term ERP,…
@ Sharada – yes to keep things easy you can copy the ‘scope/overview’ section. But I’ll suggest to have different sections for risk analysis and mitigation plan.
Hi Vijay Sir,
I am trying to understand when exactly we are required to write up Test Strategy document? Also when the requirements are not clear how do we prepare the test strategy document.
Thanks in advance,
Lakshmi
The test strategy should be prepared during the initial phase of the project. It is always advisable to have the test strategy documented at the earliest possible stage of the project because it gives a clear idea to test lead/manager about the project scope. However if there are any open points or dependencies due to which it could not be frozen, better to have the other parts covered and not to wait for all dependencies resolved to start with.
Very useful info.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for valueable info.
Amen to the last comment. I was reading THIST article and WONDERING if anyone one COMMENTing knew that the STATEMENTSTATEMENTOn tp vs Ts was backward … the test strategy is the high level governance document which the test plans implement.
Agree with Tester and A.Blackwell. The Test Strategy is the high level vision and approach to testing and the Test Plan is how you are going to implement the strategy for a given project or phase of testing in a project
hi ,
this info is very useful
In summary, the test strategy provides a broad overview of the testing approach, while the test plan provides detailed information about the specific testing activities that will be carried out. The test strategy is created at the beginning of the testing process, while the test plan is created after the test strategy is finalized.
Many thanks for the useful article.
I’m surprised that a section of product risk is not listed right at the start of the process. I would have thought that understanding the risks would help to determine the test scope, objectives and approach.
For example, you might determine that the application under test could be subject to spikes in user volumes at certain peak times. As such, you might include a peak load performance test in the scope with the objective of understanding how the system will behave when 120% of expected peak users hit the system over a 1 hour period.
As testers, we cannot test everything. So, we use our understanding risk (based on analysis) to drive that which we can test in the time we have available.
Would be keen to hear thoughts on this.
Wrong: test strategy is the high level approach of the testing you are about to undertake. Test plan is the detail of who, what, when and where. You always start with a strategy, which describes your objectives. This will inform the plan.
hi,
I am working as a software tester from past 9 months i want to learn some automation tool, please suggest me the tool which gives me the better career.
Selenium
Selenium webdriver is the vastly and widely used automation tools as it is a freeware. However we have other better tools in the market but due to cost factor these are less popular.
Hi Swetha,
That depends on your background. If you have a background in programming then you will be familiar with learning certain programming language then you can learn Selenium. This is by far the most popular testing tool, one because it is free (open source).
If you do not have a background in programming and you have no knowledge of learning any programming language then it will be a smaller step to learn test automation tools that do not require coding skills, like Tosca Commander.
Hi,
Informative article. I am sure if a test strategy is maintained, it will definitely lead to proper organization of testing activities in any organization.
Thanks.
kudos to Vijay.
really whenever I tried to write any of these documents i got confused by the terminoloy and sections. we generally cut on repetative things like scope/overview/risks etc from test strategy and add those to test plan. but that just our process. you may have all these sections in both documents.
thanks.
Good one…will help in initiating a test process in Agile env that we are currently following.
Can someone share an actual realtime (Not template) Test strategy document for reference? or anyone created any sample Test strategy document by considering above templates? plz share to ladwasp@gmail.com
Whoops; you got this bit exactly 180° incorrect;
“To summarize the Test Plan is a vision of what you want to achieve and the Test Strategy is an action plan designed to achieve this vision!”
Very nice and informative . This will really help us while writing down a test strategy
I’m starting to find writing test strategy documents a pain in the rear. Also finding reading other’s test strategies infuriating as well. Has anyone utilised other formats e.G. Power point or Mindmapping to get point across but without need for huge document?
It would be SO nice if you people bothered to learn proper english. It looks INCREDIBLY silly when an article with potentially valuable information is written like a five-year old.
Irritated: Yes, I agree, a good exterior package (proper English) would be helpful. But many people are not native English speakers, and in order to get to the content, readers are compelled to suffer the annoyance of poor English.
You know not everyone is English, right? Ignorant response. Grow up.
Thanks for sharing an informative article..
Thank you for sharing this information, it sure helped me to create a good test strategy plan upfront !
Can some share with me a Test Strategy and a Test Plan
I can be reached on lobo.denzil@gmail.com
Your article is very useful. thank you.
Strategy comes first, and forms an input to Plan. If you’re on vacation, you may follow a “sightseeing” strategy, or a “dining” strategy, for example. If you select “sightseeing”, you’d then PLAN which sightseeing spots you prefer, which dates, in which order, whether to go on your own, or via a tour operator, how much $ you want to spend, and so on.
Exactly the same with Software QA. Strategy may be “Compliance” or “Model based” or “Methodical (check-lists)” or “Consultative” or “Reactive” or “Analytical (requirements or risk, for example), and so on.
For further info: please take a look at the syllabus of ‘Software QA Foundation’ from ISTQB – International Software Testing Qualifications Board.
Thank you for writing such a clear and concise document.
I am still learning how to be an effective SDET and honestly haven’t been through all of the phases that you mentioned above but am eager to take the steps listed above and place into action.
Hi,Artical is very useful anyone can understand.
can i have more information on like
when migrate mainframe to webapplication what will be testing stategy.
By chance, can you recommend any (U.S.-based) conferences and/or training centers that focus on creating test strategies? I’m not looking for training on specific tools but rather on how best to setup test strategies for software development teams utilizing agile practices.