The test strategy is important for achieving a successful test campaign with an optimal business case. It will provide you with a better match between the right type of test and the test execution.

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This offers you an opportunity to improve the evaluation of the performance. Therefore, a focus on the test strategy will ensure that the test campaign creates the planned business value.

Various types of testing are performed to achieve different objectives when testing components or systems. In order to select a suitable type of test for your Device Under Test (DUT), while ensuring cost efficiency and feasibility, test requirements should be outlined before initiating the development process of the test facility.

The purpose of the test strategy is to define the overall framework of the entire process. How you define your test strategy is an important step, since future decisions and performance evaluations depend on the context of the strategy.

The test strategy ensures a good business case

A clearly defined test strategy will aid the execution of the test campaign and lead to fewer alterations of test specifications and related changes to the test facility. Eventually, the test strategy accelerates initiation of the test campaign and ensures an ideal business case. A test strategy can be defined by the following steps:

Test Strategy

Following the definition of the overall test need, execution of the test and the related conditions is an iterative process, which can be divided into three parallel phases: Preliminary test specifications, operational conditions for DUT and test concept feasibility.

Defining the overall test need
The first step is to define the purpose for testing. The key is to identify the main drivers of the test – i.e. locating the critical components or systems and the types of failure which need to be simulated.
Preliminary test specifications
A preliminary test specification, where general thoughts about the right type of test as well as the specific components which need testing are discussed.
Operational conditions of the DUT
In this step, the ideal load case is defined. In case the DUT is already in operation on the customer site, field data are often the most valid benchmark. If the DUT at prototype level requires testing, the load cases often require a more significant examination in order to find the right correlation to field conditions.
Test concept feasibility
The test concept feasibility is an early stage concept exploration of how the test facility can be designed to meet the test specifications and the test load cases within a realistic budget and the required time frame.
Final test specification
This is the final definition of the test requirements with a holistic consideration of the three preivious steps. Basing the test specification on these steps will generally lead to a more efficient performance of the test facility and the following test campaign – resulting in an optimised business case.