TEST ARCHED study guide
TEST ARCHED · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
TEST ARCHED is a multiple-choice examination built around seven domains that together describe the full lifecycle of a technology project: project and program fundamentals, requirements and scope definition, architecture and solution design, delivery and implementation management, quality assurance and verification, risk change and issue management, and stakeholder communication and governance. It suits practitioners who sit between business intent and technical delivery - project or program leads, solution architects, business analysts moving into design roles, and delivery managers who must defend design decisions to sponsors. The TEST ARCHED study guide has 7 sections and about 2,169 words.
01Project and Program Fundamentals
This domain tests whether you can tell a project from a program and a portfolio, and whether you can apply the control model that fits each. A project produces a defined output within a finite lifecycle; a program coordinates related projects to deliver benefits no single project could; a portfolio is a prioritized investment pool governed against strategy.
354 words, about 2 min02Requirements and Scope Definition
This domain tests elicitation, specification, traceability and scope control. The exam expects you to turn ambiguous stakeholder wishes into testable requirements and to defend the scope baseline once it is approved.
321 words, about 2 min03Architecture and Solution Design
This domain tests whether you can select and justify a solution structure against quality attributes, constraints and trade-offs. The exam rewards explicit reasoning over technology name-dropping.
305 words, about 2 min04Delivery and Implementation Management
This domain tests planning, dependency control, release management and cutover readiness. The exam focuses on whether you can move a designed solution into production without surprising the business.
308 words, about 2 min05Quality Assurance and Verification
This domain tests whether you can plan verification and validation proportionate to risk, manage defects objectively and decide when quality is sufficient to release. Verification asks whether the product was built right: reviews, static analysis, unit and integration tests.
303 words, about 2 min06Risk, Change, and Issue Management
This domain tests whether you can separate uncertainty from current problems, respond proportionately and control change without destabilizing baselines. A risk is an uncertain future event; an issue is realized and affecting the project now.
291 words, about 1 min07Stakeholder Communication and Governance
This domain tests whether you can identify stakeholder needs, design deliberate communication and run governance that produces decisions rather than status theater. Use a power/interest grid: high power and high interest are managed closely; high power and low interest are kept satisfied; low power and high interest are kept informed; low power and low interest are monitored.
287 words, about 1 min