When was the last time you seriously worried about losing data? In the age of the cloud, chances are it’s been awhile. Yet local data loss is still as much a threat as it was ten or 20 years ago. In fact, the unfortunate truth is that thanks to our increasing reliance on cloud computing, we’re less prepared to protect our data than we were a decade ago.
In the event of damage or accidental deletion of data, the first natural instinct is to seek help online. There is no doubt no shortage of guides to amateur drive repair and data retrieval.
Unfortunately, do it yourself data recovery only goes so far in most instances. When all else fails, it’s time to call in the professionals. But where is the right place to go, and what’s important in a recovery company?
Here are the chief components of a reputable data recovery service:
Consistency
The beauty of consistency is the reduction or downright elimination of variables. When it comes to getting seemingly lost data back, consistency is key. The data recovery Vancouver citizens get to enjoy should be identical to the service provided to men and women in Toronto, Tampa, and Texas. The Internet is a relatively level playing field, after all, so assumptions about data recovery services ought to be similarly equal regardless of geographical location.
24/7/365 service
Data loss or deletion events aren’t always going to occur Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm eastern standard time. In fact, the off hours of life are when data recovery is most useful, since this prevents a business from temporary or extended closure due to missing information and software. As a result, the best data recovery services never close.
No recovery = no service fee
Just like when you take the family truckster to the car folks, there ought to be a way for data recovery professionals to provide a prognosis and the cost of pulling it off before getting started. If a so-called data recovery service wants money before finding out what’s wrong and whether there is hope, it’s time to move on to another option.
Confirmed reputation
Take the time to Google the names of potential data recovery services ahead of time if your business thrives on locally stored files and programs. Use digital literacy to assess the legitimacy of ratings, reviews, and references. Narrow down the options to services which appear positively rated in recurring fashion across the web.
Top to bottom data recovery
One sure sign of a data recovery service worth its salt is its handling of major, business grade digital salvage efforts. The security measures companies take are no match against old fashioned hardware failure and human error. The fact a company is willing to take on RAID recovery says a lot about their ability to recover data from the typical hard drive.
The fear of permanently losing precious, pertinent data locally stored to our hard drives is something we don’t really worry about these days. At least, we don’t worry about it as much as we should. When home remedies fail to retrieve seemingly lost data, there is still hope in the form of a professional data recovery service. Just make sure to choose wisely.
