The Chief Information Officer (CIO) is overseeing a project to integrate existing business processes to...

Before you can accurately understand impact (what will break, what will change, what dependencies exist), you should validate the change in a controlled environment. Mike Meyers’ Lab Manual defines sandbox testing as using a safe place “where you can experiment without messing up the primary system,” typically a virtualized environment that isolates the test machine and enables restore from snapshots. It states sandbox testing “entails checking out new and updated applications without putting the systems and data you depend on at risk.”

The All-in-One guide mirrors this exact best practice for change management, emphasizing that you don’t roll changes into production for many users/systems without “thorough testing and analysis,” and highlights sandbox testing as a documented business process used to evaluate changes safely. In this scenario, the scope is known, so the next “first” practical procedure to evaluate effect is to test it in a sandbox so you can then measure and document impacts based on evidence. A rollback/backup plan is critical, but sandbox testing comes first to determine what safeguards are required.