Knowledge articles
Why rehearse a cutover?
A cutover rehearsal gives the team a chance to discover what would stop go-live while there is still time to fix it.
A working ERP does not automatically mean a workable cutover. Data migration, access, dependencies, people and decisions must come together within a limited time window. Rehearsing the planned sequence tests whether that is achievable—and whether the business can resume operations on time.
The issues can be surprisingly ordinary. These examples show what a realistic rehearsal can uncover:
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| Issue uncovered | How it could derail the real cutover |
|---|---|
| The migration takes longer than expected | |
| An environment shuts down overnight | |
| The team cannot get access | |
| An integration cannot connect | |
| Tasks are in the wrong order | |
| Two critical tasks need the same person | |
| The final data extract misses transactions | |
| Validation takes longer than the load | |
| A scheduled job runs unexpectedly | |
| Users have the wrong roles | |
| A supplier or decision-maker is unavailable | |
| Backout takes too long |
Make the rehearsal representative
Use the planned people, tools, task sequence and realistic data volumes. Include business validation, decision calls and backout activities—not just the technical migration. Where the rehearsal differs from production, record the difference and how the remaining uncertainty will be addressed.
Capture actual timings, failed tasks and unplanned interventions. If someone rescues a task using an undocumented workaround, update the runbook and prove the revised approach works.
Allow time to fix what you find and rehearse again. One rehearsal can reveal the problems; a subsequent rehearsal provides evidence that the fixes work together.
The aim is to make the go-live decision depend on demonstrated readiness, rather than confidence in an untested plan.