Choosing the right Data Recovery company is vital to ensure your data has the maximum chance of being successfully restored.
The company that gets your vote should have dedicated Data recovery staff that are professionally trained for the required task.
Data Recovery and file restoration should be the main focus of their day to day activities and not a task that they undertake every once in a while when they get a job in, you can indeed find that the recovery is nothing more than a shell and could even be a secondary service offered by a computer repairer or web designer for example.
If the recovery lab or company you choose are a full service provider not only will they be able to restore a hard drive but also a server as well, so it is well worth asking the question to see if they have the capability.
They should be up to date with the latest hard drive technology and Raid recovery techniques and if top tier will also conduct their own research and development.
If the company are an industry leader they will also offer a call out service as this is often a key requirement for server and raid recovery for example.
Top tier recovery specialist companies will also have there own onsite or country based data recovery lab facility for use if drive stripping is required. This should be at the latest recommended certified ISO class 3 environment.
If the recovery company need to strip your drive to effect a repair you need to get the data back as quick as possible in most cases so if the company do not have their own lab you may find your drive will need to be shipped abroad.
To sum up losing data can cripple a company or cause personal heartache, so make sure you are dealing with a reputable firm as much as you can, and ask the awkward questions.