The services of a data recovery specialist is undoubtedly something you desperately need when you have a need to have data recovered. However, it is not usually necessary or cost-effective to have a data recovery specialist on staff, unless of course they serve multiple roles because data recovery tasks are necessary only in the event of a catastrophe or hardware failure.

If you have a staff member that has data recovery expertise and could serve as a data recovery specialist when needed of course that is beneficial but not necessarily a necessity. Outsourcing to a data recovery specialist is usually the best and most effective way to salvage your data if data recovery services are needed.

It is important; however, to have a well thought out data recovery plan when you have a business such as an internet business that is highly dependent on electronic data for its operation. In order for the services of a data recovery specialist to be beneficial or even possible, regular backups of data must be made and stored in a safe location so that in the event of a catastrophe - a natural disaster or a fire - access to data for the purpose of restoration is possible.

Without backups, a data recovery specialist can sometimes retrieve and restore data from devices such as computer hard drives, mainframe computers, tape backups or similar technology even if there are no backups to be used for restoration. However, without backups that are kept safe by being stored in a remote location, there is always potential that your data will be lost forever and that a data recovery specialist won't do you a bit of good. When you lose data, your service to your customers declines and the very existence of your business as you know it is threatened.

A good data recovery plan for an internet business should certainly identify a data recovery specialist that is easily accessible in the event of an emergency that requires the services of a data recovery specialist. It should also contain contact information for the data recovery specialist who hopefully is available twenty-four hours a day even on weekends and holidays to ensure that customer service is not jeopardized by extensive downtime.

The data recovery plan should be updated frequently to make sure that the data recovery specialist specified by the plan is active and available. It is a good idea to list more than one data recovery specialist whose credentials have been approved in case, for some reason, the preferred data recovery specialist cannot be reached when needed.

In addition to identifying a data recovery specialist and an alternative data recovery specialist, a data recovery plan should contain procedures for day to day operations to ensure that PCs and databases are backed up regularly.

The importance of backups to data recovery is often recognized, but sometimes the need for keeping backups stored in a safe, remote location is overlooked. On site backups are fine if the problem that creates the need for a data recovery specialist is related to hardware failure, but other events can actually damage the backups as well as the primary storage devices for your data.

Automated, offsite backup services that are accomplished electronically are an excellent solution for ensuring that your data recovery specialist has access to unaffected, up-to-date backups of your data if your primary place of business is subjected to fire or natural disasters.

Choosing a backup provider that is in a different geographic area is also a great idea, especially if you live in an area that is prone to natural disasters. If you can find an automated backup service provider with an on-staff disaster recovery specialist coordination of your data recovery plan can be simplified.