Could remote data recovery be your saviour?

"The faster a client calls us in, the less chance there is of the situation going from bad to worse," she added.

Once the client is advised of the diagnostic results, they can then be better informed on their options at this stage.

According to Philips, most clients have a number of options at the diagnostic report stage: they can either continue with their planned data recovery procedures, or opt for remote data recovery on the basis that it is faster and more cost-effective.

Remote data recovery, may not always the best option for every company, but for many, it offers a valuable lifeline at a time when an SME may need it most.

"It is not always the best option in the event of a mechanical failure," she explained, adding that remote data recovery is often down to taking a commonsense approach to IT backup and disaster recovery.

The procedure is usually time and cost-efficient for the company concerned. This makes it the best choice for many SMEs, especially those for whom any downtime represents lost revenues, whether or not those revenues are temporarily or permanently lost.

From his base in Sheffield, England, Steve Gold has been an IT journalist specialising in communications and security for 22 years, 18 of them full-time.