Test Plan, Strategy, RTM and Metrics

Test Plan

The project-level document: scope, objectives, schedule, resources, environments, entry/exit criteria, risks and deliverables. One plan per release.

Test Strategy

The organisation-level approach reused across projects: levels of testing, automation tools, environments, defect process. Plan says what for this release; strategy says how we always test.

Test Suite and Execution

Group cases into suites (smoke, regression, sprint). Execute in cycles, record pass/fail/blocked with evidence, and track the suite pass rate per build.

Requirement Traceability Matrix (RTM)

REQ-101 Login --> TC_LOGIN_001, TC_LOGIN_002 --> PASS
REQ-102 Cart  --> TC_CART_001..003          --> 1 FAIL (BUG-77)

RTM proves every requirement has coverage and every failure traces to a requirement.

Test Metrics and Reports

• Pass rate - passed / executed.
• Defect density - defects per module or KLOC.
• Defect leakage - bugs found by users after release.
• MTTR - mean time to fix and retest.

Test Closure

Archive cases, publish the summary report (scope, coverage, defects, risks), hold a retrospective, and get formal sign-off.

Key Points

• No plan survives without entry/exit criteria.
• RTM is your audit proof of coverage.
• Report metrics, not just bug counts.