Does Your Business Have a Data Recovery Strategy?

If data loss has occurred, there are a few questions you should ask yourself straight away. These include: 

‘What data is safe?’ and ‘Can I recover lost data myself with an undelete tool or data recovery software?’

For many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) data recovery simply isn’t a priority as it should be. 

However, even a simple business data recovery plan can reduce operational downtime or more significantly, prevent business bankruptcy. Some strategy is better than none when it comes to data loss prevention. 

Why Data Recovery Strategy is Important?

According to this report from the Ponemon Institute, data breaches can cost SMEs as much as $109k on average – but only 42% of companies have disaster recovery plans in place.

Many businesses don’t see data as a priority because they manage their information simply by keeping it backed up regularly. 

However, if you do business like this, the first question is whether those backups were actually successful.

There are a number of reasons data loss can occur for small businesses, from human errors to infrastructural problems with the data storage provider. 

Adverse weather conditions and natural disasters are not the only cause for concern either – data is often compromised through malicious activity such as break-ins or ransomware attacks.

If data recovery has been unsuccessful, you need to look beyond your backups and establish whether there is any chance of recuperating data from a system failure. 

Are data recovery specialists always needed?

Not all data loss needs a professional data recovery business – it depends on how your data was stored and processed in the first place.

Data recovery providers usually make use of advanced equipment and specific data recovery processes, but this isn’t always necessary.

First of all, most data loss occurs because data is no longer able to be written or read from its storage medium. This means that it has become corrupted. 

The data on the device itself doesn’t disappear – merely the ability to access and process it via software and hardware. 

For example: If a memory stick was dropped into the water and then left to dry out by itself, data recovery software would not even matter – the data would simply be unreachable as it sat in a pool of water (and data on memory cards is often unrecoverable after short periods of time, even if the data itself hasn’t been destroyed).

However, some data would be recoverable after this kind of data loss event. For instance, data stored on hard drives can usually survive immersion in water if removed quickly (usually within 30 minutes). 

If data loss occurs because data was accidentally or maliciously deleted, data recovery tools may still be able to recover information that has already passed through the recycling bin.

Don’t think you can start a data recovery business though. So you don’t necessarily need a specialist just yet, but it’s important to act quickly and get an expert opinion if your business is faced with data loss of any kind.

When to reach out for a data recovery business

We’ve established that data loss issues don’t always need data recovery tools, but there are instances that only a professional data recovery provider can help.

They deal with data storage and processing systems more advanced than your hard drive or memory stick – cloud computing and network servers.

These data centers use huge server farms to process and store data at scale (and often employ consensus algorithms for redundancy). Data is backed up in real-time, which means the sheer volume of information being processed by these providers can be massive.  

Despite all this, data centers still suffer hardware malfunctions every now and then. As well as data loss due to software glitches, data can be destroyed through electrical surges or fire damage.

Exact figures are hard to come by when it comes to data loss, but some sources suggest data centers lose data on a daily basis. And this data loss can be down to more than just glitches in the system – there are numerous cases of data theft or sabotage.

If data recovery has been unsuccessful and data loss occurs at a data center level, your business may need specialized assistance from a data recovery provider. 

Worst-Case Scenario planning is key

There are no guarantees that disaster won’t strike if you don’t engage data recovery experts. Preparation is everything when it comes to business continuity, so remember the three-stage strategy: backup, test, and review.

But no need to panic if your business encounters unforeseen data loss though. 

SalvageData has a solid track record of helping businesses of all sizes to overcome complex data system failures. Often enough, database issues are time-sensitive so waste none by requesting help now.