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.