Managing the Testing Process: Practical Tools and Techniques for Managing Hardware and Software Testing

2.14. Test Execution

This portion of the test plan addresses important factors affecting test execution. For example, in order to run tests, you often need to receive items from the outside world, primarily resources (or funding for those resources) and systems to test. In the course of running tests, you will gather data that you must track in a way presentable to your team, your peers, and your managers. In addition, you will run through distinct test cycles in each test phase. I find that the level of detail required here varies from team to team and project to project. With my more senior test teams on well-run projects, I can leave much of this section to the discretion of my crack team of testers. With junior testers, especially on chaotic projects, the more I can nail down the test execution realities during the planning phase, the more confusion I can anticipate and resolve ahead of time.

2.14.1. Key Participants

In this section, I identify the key participants in the test effort and the role they'll play in testing. I find it especially important to identify the external participants, the hand-off points, and each participant's contact information. Another useful portion of this subsection can be the escalation process; in other words, if some key participants do not or cannot fulfill their agreed-upon role, then what happens next? In the case of external participants, I work out the roles and hand-off points with the appropriate peer-level managers first, before putting ...