Mock Load Strategy and Migration Runbooks

Keep this: job aid

Mock and runbook checklist

• Give each mock one question: can it load, is it right at volume, does it fit the window, can we do it exactly as on the day.
• Write measurable, owned entry and exit criteria for every mock.
• Time every runbook step, including waits and reruns; find the critical path.
• Optimize where time is lost: pre-load, parallel jobs, split files, fewer errors, scheduled owners. Prove it in a rehearsal.
• Freezes: rules, transports, master data, postings; each with a date, owner and exception process.
• Pre-load large, stable master data; load open items and balances after the transactional freeze; rehearse the delta.
• Runbook step: ID, action, predecessors, owner and backup, system and client, timing, evidence, checkpoint, contingency.
• Track unplanned steps per rehearsal toward zero.
• Make every cross-stream hand-off an owned step; agree go/no-go criteria and the point of no return in advance.
• Data owners sign their objects, with evidence, before users post.