PROJECT NAME

Test Plan Template

Version nr.

The Test Plan is the pivotal document around which all the software testing projects revolve. It
describes: what has to be done, to what quality standard, with what resource, to what time
scale, and outlines the risks and how they would be overcome.
Contents
Test Plan Identifier......................................................................................................................................2
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Test Items....................................................................................................................................................2
Features To Be Tested.................................................................................................................................3
Features Not To Be Tested..........................................................................................................................3
Approach.....................................................................................................................................................3
Item Pass/Fail Criteria..................................................................................................................................4
Suspension Criteria and Resumption Requirements...................................................................................5
Test Deliverables.........................................................................................................................................5
Test Tasks....................................................................................................................................................6
Environmental Needs..................................................................................................................................6
Responsibilities............................................................................................................................................7
Staffing and Training Needs.........................................................................................................................7
Schedule......................................................................................................................................................7
Risks and Contingencies..............................................................................................................................8
Approvals.....................................................................................................................................................9

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Test Plan Identifier
Some type of unique company generated number to identify this test plan, its level and the level
of software that it is related to. Preferably the test plan level will be the same as the related
software level. The number may also identify whether the test plan is a Master plan, a Level
plan, an integration plan or whichever plan level it represents. This is to assist in coordinating
software and testware versions within configuration management.
Unique "short" name for the test plan
Version date and version number of procedure
Version Author and contact information
Revision history
Keep in mind that test plans are like other software documentation, they are dynamic in nature
and must be kept up to date. Therefore they will have revision numbers.
You may want to include author and contact information including the revision history
information as part of either the identifier section of as part of the introduction.

Introduction
State the purpose of the Plan, possibly identifying the level of the plan (master etc.). This is
essentially the executive summary part of the plan.
You may want to include any references to other plans, documents or items that contain
information relevant to this project/process. If preferable, you can create a references section to
contain all reference documents.
Project Authorization
Project Plan
Quality Assurance Plan
Configuration Management Plan
Relevant Policies and Standards
For lower level plans, reference higher level plan(s)
Identify the Scope of the plan in relation to the Software Project plan that it relates to.
Other items may include, resource and budget constraints, scope of the testing effort, how testing
relates to other evaluation activities (Analysis & Reviews), and possible the process to
be used for change control and communication and coordination of key activities.
As this is the “Executive Summary” keep information brief and to the point.

Test Items
These are things you intend to test within the scope of this test plan. Essentially a list of what is
to be tested. This can be developed from the software application test objectives inventories as
well as other sources of documentation and information such as:
Requirements Specifications
Design Specifications
Users Guides

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Operations Manuals or Guides
Installation Manuals or Procedures
This can be controlled and defined by your local Configuration Management (CM) process if
you have one. This information includes version numbers, configuration requirements where
needed, (especially if multiple versions of the product are supported). It may also include key
delivery schedule issues for critical elements. Identify any critical steps required before testing
can begin as well, such as how to obtain the required item. This section can be oriented to the
level of the test plan. For higher levels it may be by application or functional area, for lower
levels it may be by program, unit, module or build. References to existing incident reports or
enhancement requests should also be included. This section can also indicate items that will be
excluded from testing

Features To Be Tested
This is a listing of what is to be tested from the USERS viewpoint of what the system does. This
is not a technical description of the software but a USERS view of the functions. It is
recommended to identify the test design specification associated with each feature or set of
features. Set the level of risk for each feature. Use a simple rating scale such as (H, M, L); High,
Medium and Low. These types of levels are understandable to a User. You should be prepared to
discuss why a particular level was chosen.
This is another place where the test objectives inventories can to used to help identify the sets of
objectives to be tested together, (this takes advantage of the hierarchy of test objectives).
Depending on the level of test plan, specific attributes (objectives) of a feature or set of features
may be identified.

Features Not To Be Tested

This is a listing of what is NOT to be tested from both the Users viewpoint of what the system
does and a configuration management/version control view. This is not a technical description of
the software but a USERS view of the functions.
Identify WHY the feature is not to be tested, there can be any number of reasons.
Not to be included in this release of the Software.
Low risk, has been used before and is considered stable.
Will be released but not tested or documented as a functional part of the release of this version
of the software.

Approach
This is your overall test strategy for this test plan; it should be appropriate to the level of the plan
(master, acceptance, etc.) and should be in agreement with all higher and lower levels of plans.
Overall rules and processes should be identified.
Are any special tools to be used and what are they?
Will the tool require special training?
What metrics will be collected?
Which level is each metric to be collected at?
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How is Configuration Management to be handled?
How many different configurations will be tested
Hardware
Software
Combinations of HW, SW and other vendor packages
What are the regression test rules? How much will be done and how much at each test level.
Will regression testing be based on severity of defects detected?
How will elements in the requirements and design that do not make sense or are untestable be
processed?
If this is a master test plan the overall project testing approach and coverage requirements
must also be identified.
Specify if there are special requirements for the testing.
Only the full component will be tested.
A specified segment of grouping of features/components must be tested together.
Other information that may be useful in setting the approach are:
MTBF, Mean Time Between Failures - if this is a valid measurement for the test
involved and if the data is available.
SRE, Software Reliability Engineering - if this methodology is in use and if the
information is available.
How will meetings and other organizational processes be handled.
Are there any significant constraints to testing.
Resource availability
Deadlines
Are there any recommended testing techniques that should be used, if so why?

Item Pass/Fail Criteria

What are the Completion criteria for this plan? This is a critical aspect of any test plan and
should be appropriate to the level of the plan. The goal is to identify whether or not a test item
has passed the test process.
At the Unit test level this could be items such as:
All test cases completed.
A specified percentage of cases completed with a percentage containing some number of
minor defects.
Code coverage tool indicates all code covered.
At the Master test plan level this could be items such as:
All lower level plans completed.
A specified number of plans completed without errors and a percentage with minor defects.
This could be an individual test case level criterion or a unit level plan or it can be general
functional requirements for higher level plans.
What is the number and severity of defects located?
Is it possible to compare this to the total number of defects? This may be impossible, as some
defects are never detected.

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A defect is something that may cause a failure, and may be acceptable to leave in the
application.
A failure is the result of a defect as seen by the User, the system crashes, etc.

Suspension Criteria and Resumption Requirements

Know when to pause in a series of tests or possibly terminate a set of tests. Once testing is
suspended how is it resumed and what are the potential impacts, (i.e. regression tests). If the
number or type of defects reaches a point where the follow on testing has no value, it makes no
sense to continue the test; you are just wasting resources.
Specify what constitutes stoppage for a test or series of tests and what is the acceptable level
of defects that will allow the testing to proceed past the defects.
Testing after a truly fatal error will generate conditions that may be identified as defects but
are in fact ghost errors caused by the earlier defects that were ignored.

Test Deliverables
What is to be delivered as part of this plan?
Test plan
Test design specifications.
Test case specifications
Test procedure specifications
Test item transmittal reports
Test logs
Test Incident Reports
Test Summary reports
Test Incident reports
Test data can also be considered a deliverable as well as possible test tools to aid in the testing
process. One thing that is not a test deliverable is the software; that is listed under test items and
is delivered by development.
These items need to be identified in the overall project plan as deliverables (milestones) and
should have the appropriate resources assigned to them in the project tracking system. This will
ensure that the test process has visibility within the overall project tracking process and that the
test tasks to create these deliverables are started at the appropriate time. Any dependencies
between these deliverables and their related software deliverable should be identified. If the
predecessor document is incomplete or unstable the test products will suffer as well.

Test Tasks
There should be tasks identified for each test deliverable. Include all inter-task dependencies,
skill levels, etc. These tasks should also have corresponding tasks and milestones in the overall
project tracking process (tool).

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If this is a multi-phase process or if the application is to be released in increments there may be
parts of the application that this plan does not address. These areas need to be identified to avoid
any confusion should defects be reported back on those future functions.
This will also allow the users and testers to avoid incomplete functions and prevent waste of
resources chasing Non-defects.
If the project is being developed as a multi-party process this plan may only cover a portion of
the total functions/features. This needs to be identified so that those other areas have plans
developed for them and to avoid wasting resources tracking defects that do not relate to this plan.
When a third party is developing the software this section may contain descriptions of those test
tasks belonging to both the internal groups and the external groups.

Environmental Needs
Are there any special requirements for this test plan, such as:
Special hardware such as simulators, static generators etc.
How will test data be provided. Are there special collection requirements or specific ranges of
data that must be provided?
How much testing will be done on each component of a multi-part feature?
Special power requirements.
Specific versions of other supporting software.
Restricted use of the system during testing.
Tools (both purchased and created).
Communications
Web
Client/Server
Network
Topology
External
Internal
Bridges/Routers
Security

Responsibilities
Who is in charge? There should be a responsible person for each aspect of the testing and the test
process. Each test task identified should also have a responsible person assigned.
This includes all areas of the plan, here are some examples.
Setting risks.
Selecting features to be tested and not tested.
Setting overall strategy for this level of plan.
Ensuring all required elements are in place for testing.
Providing for resolution of scheduling conflicts, especially if testing is done on the production
system.
Who provides the required training?
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Who makes the critical go/no go decisions for items not covered in the test plans?
Who delivers each item in the test items section?

Staffing and Training Needs

Identify all critical training requirements and concerns.
Training on the product.
Training for any test tools to be used.

Schedule
Should be based on realistic and validated estimates. If the estimates for the development of the
application are inaccurate the entire project plan will slip and the testing is part of the overall
project plan.
As we all know the first area of a project plan to get cut when it comes to crunch time at the end
of a project is the testing. It usually comes down to the decision, ‘Let’s put something out even if
it does not really work all that well’. And as we all know this is usually the worst possible
decision.
How slippage in the schedule will to be handled should also be addressed here.
If the users know in advance that a slippage in the development will cause a slippage in the
test and the overall delivery of the system they just may be a little more tolerant if they know it’s
in their interest to get a better tested application.
By spelling out the effects here you have a change to discuss them in advance of their actual
occurrence. You may even get the users to agree to a few defects in advance if the schedule slips.
At this point all relevant milestones should be identified with their relationship to the
development process identified. This will also help in identifying and tracking potential slippage
in the schedule caused by the test process.
It is always best to tie all test dates directly to their related development activity dates.
This prevents the test team from being perceived as the cause of a delay. For example: if system
testing is to begin after delivery of the final build then system testing begins the day after
delivery. If the delivery is late system testing starts from the day of delivery, not on a specific
date.
There are many elements to be considered for estimating the effort required for testing. It is
critical that as much information as possible goes into the estimate as soon as possible in order to
allow for accurate test planning. For a generalized list of considerations refer to the estimation
document in Appendix C.

Risks and Contingencies

What are the overall risks to the project with an emphasis on the testing process?
Lack of personnel resources when testing is to begin.
Lack of availability of required hardware, software, data or tools.
Late delivery of the software, hardware or tools.
Delays in training on the application and/or tools.

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Changes to the original requirements or designs.
Specify what will be done for various events, for example:
Requirements definition will be complete by January 1, 19XX, and if the requirements change
after that date the following actions will be taken.
The test schedule and development schedule will move out an appropriate number of days.
This rarely occurs, as most projects tend to have fixed delivery dates.
The number of test performed will be reduced.
The number of acceptable defects will be increased.
These two items could lower the overall quality of the delivered product.
Resources will be added to the test team.
The test team will work overtime.
This could affect team morale.
The scope of the plan may be changed.
There may be some optimization of resources. This should be avoided if possible for obvious
reasons.
You could just QUIT. A rather extreme option to say the least. Management is usually
reluctant to accept scenarios such as the one above even though they have seen it happen in the
past. The important thing to remember is that if you do nothing at all, the usual result is that
testing is cut back or omitted completely, neither of which should be an acceptable option

Approvals
Who can approve the process as complete and allow the project to proceed to the next level
(depending on the level of the plan).
At the master test plan level this may be all involved parties.
When determining the approval process keep in mind who the audience is.
The audience for a unit test level plan is different than that of an integration, system or master
level plan.
The levels and type of knowledge at the various levels will be different as well.
Programmers are very technical but may not have a clear understanding of the overall business
process driving the project.
Users may have varying levels of business acumen and very little technical skills.

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