Data recovery
Data
recovery - Since the inception of the digital age, data has become an
increasingly precious commodity in people's lives. Whether it's
commercial or personal, digitised data is used and relied upon by
increasing numbers of people. Unfortunately, data storage devices are
subject to failure, and in cases of absence of a recent back up, users
may have to engage the services of a data recovery (DR) company.
However, since the rise in the use of digital data has been mirrored by
an expansion in the data recovery industry, the user needs to make a
wise choice as to where to send his or her device in the hope of
retrieving the crucial data. In this article we shall discuss how one
may distinguish between reputable companies and those who do not have
the skills they purport to have.
For the majority of users, the
first contact with a DR company will be through their website, probably
via a search engine. The organic ranking (as opposed to paid advertising
such as Google Adsense) of a company following a keyword search will
provide the first indicator of credibility; search engines, Google in
particular, tend to reward informative, educational, well-established
websites with higher organic rankings. However, a high organic ranking
does not guarantee that the company is good at what they do; it could
just indicate that they have invested well in the process of search
engine optimisation.
Once the site has been reached there are a
number of factors the informed user could consider to build up an
opinion of the credibility of the company. Obviously most companies will
want to present themselves in the best possible light, so it is to be
expected that they will self-describe in glowing terms, have great
testimonials, and will have a (real or imaginary) list of former or
current clients. It is also likely that they will emphasise the number
of years they have been in business and the amount of skills and
expertise they have. In many cases this is genuine information, in
others a positive spin, and in others downright lies. So how can a user
possibly hope to make distinctions between the good, the bad and the
ugly? Below are some suggestions:
1. How much technical
information is presented on the site? Detailed technical information is a
strong indicator that a) the company has the expertise they claim to
have and b) they are secure enough that they feel able to share that
knowledge on the internet.
2. Related to the first point, does
the company offer any training in data recovery techniques? You can't
teach something you don't know about, so offering courses is further
evidence that they have the skills.
3. Beware inflated success
rates. The reality of data recovery is that some disks, particularly
ones that might have been examined by PC shops or users themselves, are
so damaged that recovery is impossible. Any company that says they can
retrieve data from any media in any condition is, frankly, being
dishonest.
4. Beware very low prices. Data recovery is a complex
process requiring expertise. To employ people with the requisite skills
and to buy and maintain the correct equipment costs money. Therefore
anyone offering very cheap data recovery services won't have the
equipment and won't have skilled staff.
5. Are they country-wide,
worldwide or just in one area? Some DR companies consist of "a man in a
shed". It might therefore be advisable to opt for a company with a
presence in more than one location.
6. Does the site sell advertising space to other companies? This would dilute their credibility.
7.
Does the company have a clean room? Minute particles of dust affect the
data recovery process. A certified clean room is essential to prevent
contamination of the component parts of hard drives.
8. Can the company retrieve data from a wide range of media, e.g. USBs, memory cards and mobile phones as well as hard drives?
9.
Is there any indication on the website that the company is
well-respected either by its peers, or by credible institutions such as
universities and other higher education establishments? Does the company
offer subsidiary data services such as data back up or data conversion?
Again, this is indicative of a wider skill set.
10. Does the
company charge a diagnosis fee? While on the face of it, a diagnosis
charge seems undesirable, how much effort is a company realistically
going to put in to diagnosing a disk when they are not receiving any
payment for it? In many instances, companies offering "no fix, no fee"
will generally dismiss complex recoveries as "unrecoverable", simply
because they will not invest the time to attempt a recovery when they
might not be paid for it.
11. Get a second opinion. It's
important to trust your instincts too; if you feel that you are not
being offered the service you're looking for, ring other companies for
quotations or advice.
12. Independent web site reviews of the
company. Again of course this is not a fail-safe method as disreputable
companies will either slander competitors, or favourably review
themselves, or both! It may however give you another piece of the jigsaw
when you are forming your impressions of a company.
