The invention reduces the system processing and user response time spikes normally associated with cache flushes and adds to the effectiveness of the cache returned to service through pre-loading of cache data on a staging server. Statistical data is captured representative of application data usage and analyzed in accordance with customizable rules. Candidate data for caching is determined from the statistical data and pre-loaded onto the staging server. This pre-loaded, staged data is then pushed into the production data cache, thereby reducing downtime of the cache.