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The overall SDLC should be considered when defining a test strategy. The moment of involvement for the Test Analyst is different for the various SDLCs; the amount of involvement, time required, information available and expectations can be quite varied as well. The Test Analyst must be aware of the types of information to supply to other related organizational roles such as: • Requirements engineering and management - requirements reviews feedback • Project management - schedule input • Configuration and change management – results of build verification testing, version control information • Software development - notifications of defects found • Software maintenance - reports on defects, defect removal efficiency, and confirmation testing • Technical support - accurate documentation for workarounds and known issues • Production of technical documentation (e.g., database design specifications, test environment documentation) - input to these documents as well as technical review of the documents Test activities must be aligned with the chosen SDLC whose nature may be sequential, iterative, incremental, or a hybrid of these. For example, in the sequential V-model, the test process applied to the system test level could align as follows: • System test planning occurs concurrently with project planning, and test monitoring and control continues until test completion. This will influence the schedule inputs provided by the Test Analyst for project management purposes. • System test analysis and design aligns with documents such as the system requirements specification, system and architectural (high-level) design specification, and component (low-level) design specification. • Implementation of the system test environment might start during system design, though the bulk of it typically would occur concurrently with coding and component testing, with work on system test implementation activities stretching often until just days before the start of system test execution. • System test execution begins when the entry criteria are met or, if necessary, waived, which typically means that at least component testing and often also component integration testing have met their exit criteria. System test execution continues until the system test exit criteria are met. • System test completion activities occur after the system test exit criteria are met. Iterative and incremental models may not follow the same order of activities and may exclude some activities. For example, an iterative model may utilize a reduced set of test activities for each iteration. Test analysis, design, implementation, and execution may be conducted for each iteration, whereas high-level planning is done at the beginning of the project, and completion tasks are done at the end. In Agile software development, it is common to use a less formalized process and a much closer working relationship with project stakeholders that allows changes to occur more easily within the project. There may not be a well-defined Test Analyst role. There is less comprehensive test documentation, and communication is shorter and more frequent. Agile software development involves testing from the outset. This starts from the initiation of the product development as the developers perform their initial architecture and design work. Reviews may not be formalized but are continuous as the software evolves. Involvement is expected to be throughout the project and Test Analyst tasks are expected to be done by the team. Iterative and incremental models range from Agile software development, where there is an expectation for change as the customer requirements evolve, to hybrid models, e.g., iterative/incremental development combined with a V-model approach. In such hybrid models, Test Analysts should be involved in the planning and design aspects of the sequential activities, and then move to a more interactive role during the iterative/incremental activities. Whatever the SDLC being used, Test Analysts need to understand the expectations for involvement as well as the timing of that involvement. Test Analysts provide an effective contribution to software quality by adjusting their activities and their moment of involvement to the specific SDLC rather than sticking to a pre-defined role model.