What a restore drill actually tests, and what it quietly skips

In Kutaisi we have watched drills that were declared finished when the server accepted a login. The month-end file was not opened. The application owner was on leave. The crate that would be needed on a Sunday was still at the depot, and nobody had the Saturday number.

A drill tests what you put in the script. If the script stops at “machine answers,” you have tested power, cables, and a copy of the operating system. You have not tested payroll. Write the name of the file that would cause a fine or a missed wage, and make that the last line of the script.

Time the waits that feel embarrassing: the search for a password, the call to a courier, the licence click that only one person can perform. Those waits are the recovery. The copy is only the first object in the room.

If you already have a drill on the calendar and want a witness with a stopwatch, ask for restore drill observation. If you do not yet know which system to nominate, start with a readiness review and pick the system the director fears.