The Tricky Business of Recovering Data

However, it is hardware failure that is the greatest cause of data loss and not software threats (including viruses), and only professional data recovery can deal with such situations. DIY data recovery software, meanwhile, has become popular at a strikingly fast rate. Some angles of this business have been discussed in the following.

What is Data Recovery?

The process of retrieving digitally stored data that has been deleted or corrupted and is, therefore, beyond accessible range of the user is called data recovery. If that sounds jargon-heavy, lets try to give an example. Mr. X runs a home-based business as an internet trader. One day, he discovers that his machine is not starting up. The screen is completely blank and blue, and the keyboard and mouse do not seem to connect. When Mr. X approaches a recovery company, they tell him that the hard disk has crashed. So he cannot see the data physically, but it is possible for them to get things back to normal for him. Another example will bring it closer to home. Ms. Y is cleaning up the system at home. In her zeal, she deletes several files that she does not want to throw away. Now that they are gone from the recycle bin too, she does not know where to find them. A DIY software package bought from the internet retrieves the data for her again.

Why is It Important?

There was a time when recovering data was beyond the ken of most people. This was because computers themselves were gigantic, complicated and extremely expensive machines to begin with. Only government agencies and global corporate giants could afford to have a computer. Digital data being highly limited in its usage, there were only a handful few who had any chance of data loss. During the mid 1990s, the whole scenario changed as home pc s emerged as a force to reckon with. As more people started to store data in the digital format, the preservation of this information became increasingly important for them. Apart from the domestic market, computers became part of the standard office stationery everywhere. When it came to institutions such as banks, hospitals or government departments, data protection became part of the public good that needs to be upheld. The data recovery industry too moved towards becoming generally more relevant.

Factors behind the Growth

As suggested above, data recovery as an industry has seen rapid growth on an almost war footing. How has this huge market demand emerged in roughly a decade only? Some of the chief factors behind this growth are being noted below:

• Data recovery became more widespread with the increase in the chances of data loss. The internet was the single greatest factor that contributed to the rise of viruses. When a huge population began to turn up on popular sites for downloads, virus makers were elated. As a corollary, this also gave birth to a number of antivirus software, firewall, filters and other protection systems, as well as data recovery software.



• The IT industrial boom has made data protection, data recovery, data forensics and disaster recovery (in that order), areas of key importance for all corporate users. Computers are no longer confined to one particular kind of business or department. Since the data needs have grown so heavy, data recovery has also boomed.



• Human beings are fallible. The more techno-savvy we become, the greater are the chances of error. This may sound like an irony, but increased human errors with the increase in computer usage have caused a palpable growth in the data recovery industry.

Future Prospects

Data recovery is an emerging area, and the future prospects are very bright. Professional data recovery will become more competently packaged and priced, while DIY may move towards tackling more complicated software defaults.

Scope for Entrepreneurs

For anyone who wants to start a DIY software firm, the first requirement is thorough domain knowledge. This is true of professional recovery agencies too, but they also need a clean room, updated infrastructure and heavy investment. Tie-ups with software development and hardware backup groups are essential.