# Stage 1: Initializing a large migration
<a name="stage-one-initialization"></a>

In the initialize stage, the goal is to define standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the large migration, also known as *runbooks*. You build custom runbooks based on your company’s policies and processes. If another team member is responsible for defining the runbooks in your large migration project, skip to [Stage2: Implementing a large migration](stage-two-implementation.md), where you will use the runbooks to prioritize applications and perform wave planning. Stage 1 consists of the following tasks and steps:
+ [Task 1: Validating the migration patterns and metadata](task-one-pattern-validation.md)
  + [Step 1: Validate the migration patterns](task-one-pattern-validation.md#step-one-validate-patterns)
  + [Step 2: Validate the migration metadata and wave plan](task-one-pattern-validation.md#step-two-validate-metadata)
+ [Task 2: Creating drafts of the migration runbooks](task-two-drafts-runbooks.md)
  + [Step 1: Create a migration runbook draft for each pattern](task-two-drafts-runbooks.md#step-one-create-runbooks)
  + [Step 2: Update the migration runbooks with your policies and processes](task-two-drafts-runbooks.md#step-two-update-runbooks)
+ [Task 3: Analyzing and testing your migration runbooks](task-three-analyze-runbooks.md)
  + [Step 1: Conduct a walkthrough of each runbook](task-three-analyze-runbooks.md#step-one-walkthrough-runbook)
  + [Step 2: Conduct a POC that tests each migration pattern](task-three-analyze-runbooks.md#step-two-poc-tests)
  + [Step 3: Review and identify the gaps in the current migration runbook drafts](task-three-analyze-runbooks.md#step-three-review-gaps)
+ [Task 4: Improving your migration runbooks](task-four-migration-runbooks.md)
  + [Step 1: Update the migration runbooks and repeat the testing](task-four-migration-runbooks.md#step-one-repeat-testing)
  + [Step 2: Automate repetitive tasks](task-four-migration-runbooks.md#step-two-automate-tasks)
  + [Step 3: Build a migration task list](task-four-migration-runbooks.md#step-three-build-list)

With the migration runbooks in place, in stage 2, the migration teams follow the procedures and perform large migrations that have predictable and measurable outcomes.