Lost data? Reasons and costs of data loss

Computer users and many experts often consider lost data permanently destroyed, with no hope of recovery. Information about lost data can be complex, inconsistent or inaccurate, so it's not surprising that data loss and data recovery are some of the most confusing and misunderstood concepts.

Computer data may be one of your company’s most valuable and vulnerable assets. According to our experience, the primary threats to your data include:

• Hardware or system problems
• Human error
• Software corruption or program problems
• Computer viruses
• Natural disasters

These five major threats to your computer data share two things in common: they are unpredictable and, in many cases, uncontrollable. Therefore, the precautions taken by IT professionals to safeguard company data cannot always prevent a data loss.

In addition to being a vulnerable asset, computer data is also a valuable asset.

Based on the information below it is easy to see how significant the costs of lost or inaccessible data can be. The following is a summary of the average hourly impact of lost data on a selection of different businesses.

Type of business & average hourly impact

Costs of data loss With no data and no access to your system, lost data is a financial disaster. Our data recovery specialists determine the best data recovery solution to get you back up and running as quickly as possible. The chart below outlines the costs associated with computer downtime and lost data for businesses. Industry sector revenue per hour Lost revenue per hour (US $) Energy $2.8 million Telecommunications $2.0 million Manufacturing $1.6 million Financial institutions $1.4 million Information technology $1.3 million Insurance $1.2 million Retail $1.1 million Pharmaceuticals $1.0 million Banking $996,000 Source: IT Performance Engineering & Measurement Strategies: Quantifying Performance Loss, Meta Group, October 2000.

When time is crucial and data is mission-critical, data recovery may be the most practical option available. Data recovery professionals recover data from the damaged media itself, providing several advantages over alternative methods of data retrieval:

• Complete: Data recovery professionals can safely enter the system or media to achieve a comprehensive data recovery.
• Current: Although many people revert to backups following a data loss, those backups typically contain outdated information or could be corrupt themselves. Data recovery can help you access the most recent version of the lost data.
• Fast: Every second that passes following a data disaster means time and money lost to your company. Data recovery reduces this downtime by quickly recovering and returning your data. With our multiple service types and levels, Ontrack can potentially recover your data in as little as a few hours.
• Cost-effective: The expense in time, money, and effort of rebuilding or re-keying lost data can be overwhelming to your company. Data recovery can provide the quickest and most complete data recovery possible. Ontrack also offers OntrackVeriFile allowing customers to view a complete listing of their recoverable and non-recoverable files in an organised, easily searchable format. This gives the customer all of the information necessary to determine if important files can be recovered before committing to service fees and proceeding with an actual recovery.

At Ontrack Data Recovery we take the mystery associated with lost data out of the equation. Our data recovery engineers have studied data loss and have been performing successful recoveries for 20 years. Their findings indicate that in many cases, data is recoverable - no matter what the circumstance. Never assume your valuable data can't be recovered - always check with a qualified data recovery expert before determining what to do when data loss has occurred.