When I was on the East Coast, we made contingencies, but our company could actually survive for a day or two without the systems. So it was harder to convince them to do serious DR testing.

When I got to Denver, we had a separate contract with a facility and we tested once a year. They didn't always go well, and I think some of that was our lax attitude. We thought "we'll make a note of that and fix it in the docs" and sometimes did, sometimes didn't.

I'm a little torn on the pressure. On one hand, you could make these unannounced, but there would have to be a penalty (maybe cut .5% from your raise for this year) or a bonus ($1k if it succeeds in xx hours) for people to take them seriously. On the other hand, the likelihood of a disaster is low, even in areas that could get one.

New Orleans has been around for a long time without getting a hurricane. Could easily have been another 5 years. In Denver, we had a century snow about 6 years ago, 5ft in 3 days, and a number of roofs collapsed. How likely is it we'll get one again? How much money is it worth for any company to get a 2nd site? It can be expensive.

I think that you ought to try and split out your operations if it makes sense. If you have a second site. If you don't, then can you set up in a remote facility? Denver is a great place, and I have a few Florida companies that put their servers here because we have a low probability of a disaster. Rodney, you're welcome to do the same, I'll buy you a beer if you come out.

I think walking people through the process is "good enough" for most businesses. If you really can't get by a day or two without service, spend more and do more prep.

One last note, I'd schedule one person just to document things. Not to do work, but just note what works and what doesn't.