How to Choose a Data Recovery Company

The data recovery industry has changed significantly over the past few years, and we appreciate how hard it can be to choose a data recovery company. Unfortunately, some data recovery companies do not actually recover data — they are merely marketers who send your failed media to a third party. Data recovery companies generally fall into three categories, and we hope the following information helps you assess who is best to recover your data.

We have also detailed below a list of questions you might want to ask a data recovery company when you call them. This will help you decide who best fits your data recovery needs.

Large Data Recovery Companies

These are multi-national companies with many employees and several worldwide locations.

Pros

• Most of the larger companies have an R&D department, so if you have an unusual data recovery request — such as a highly unusual file system — these companies may be able to help you.
• They have extensive experience and have contacts with hard drive manufacturers.

Cons

• They are very expensive, often 3 or 4 times the price of a smaller professional data recovery company.
• Your media will need to be shipped to them.
• Data recovery is generally very slow (several weeks or months) unless you pay an additional fee.
• Time versus work involved: if the recovery will take a long time to complete, they would rather deem it unrecoverable and move on to the next job.
• They are not perfect. We have had hard drives here that were sent to a major data recovery company and deemed unrecoverable — with a little time and effort we were able to recover the data.

Smaller Professional Data Recovery Companies

These fall into two categories, and it is important to distinguish between the two.

1. Local

• These companies have a physical location in the geographical area they specialize in.
• They have one physical location and have no pretense about it.
• Most have regular opening hours, a client service team, and an office you can visit.

Pros:

• These companies have the tools and experience to recover data from pretty much any failed media.
• They have invested heavily in education and equipment. For example, Desert Data Recovery has 4 PC-3000 Professional Data Recovery Systems, 2 Deepspar Disk Imagers, a Visual NAND Reconstructor, a RAID Reconstruction System, and cleanroom facilities — and our technicians have received extensive training on each of these pieces of software and equipment.
• They can effectively evaluate failed media without causing more damage.
• They are full-service and able to recover data from all types of failed devices.
• They have on-site cleanrooms for recovery of mechanically failed drives.

Cons:

• Professionals can recover data from approximately 95% of all failed media. But if your data recovery issue is unique, a major company may be better for you.

2. National, but Pretending to Be Local

They have one physical location and "drop off" locations throughout the US. If you choose one of these companies, your failed media will be shipped across the country. Make sure you ask whether they are physically based at the location you are calling.

The Others

Technology Companies

Many offer basic data recovery services such as deleted file recovery. It is important to know the limitations of these companies when deciding if they are right for you. It is possible they will do more damage to your media.

Data Recovery Marketing Companies

Many companies who market themselves as "data recovery experts" are merely a marketing service. They receive your failed media and pass it along to another data recovery company. This results in additional shipping of your media, more time to recover the data, and increased costs, as they also make a margin on the recovery.

Too Good to Be True

These companies try a "bait and switch" approach. They will "estimate" the recovery of your media to be lower in cost over the phone, but when they receive your media you find out the "low cost" estimate suddenly turns out to be several times the price once the recovery is underway. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Questions to Ask Your Data Recovery Company

Do they complete the data recovery at the location listed on their website?

If they say they do, ask to visit the office. Many data recovery companies have nationwide drop-off locations but only one physical location, and your media could be shipped to the other side of the country.

Do they recover ALL data at their location, or do they use third parties?

Some data recovery companies outsource recoveries to larger companies, which increases shipping times, recovery times, and costs to you.

Do they have an on-site cleanroom or bench?

This is essential for data recovery from mechanically failed drives. Without diagnosing the issues first, a mechanically failed drive can be rendered unrecoverable if it is not inspected before trying to recover data. Do they sound like they know what they are talking about? During your phone conversation, is the company genuinely trying to answer your questions, or desperate to get you to send in your drive?