View Point: Empire College Takes a Journey to DriveSavers

On October 10, IT students  from Empire College took their annual field trip to DriveSavers to learn first-hand how data is recovered off of hard drives that have failed or have been destroyed. Our students were greeted by DriveSavers staff that checked them in and provided refreshments before the tour of the facility started.

The first stop of the tour was the Museum of Bizarre Disk-asters, which highlighted some of the computers that DriveSavers has been able to recovery data off of. I encourage you to check out the web site with the Disk-asters to see some of the amazing recovery stories that have occurred over the years at DriveSavers.

Three groups of students made their way through the facility some starting with shipping, others starting in the call centers. Highlights of the tour were the different types of Cleanrooms that the students were able to view. Cleanrooms—not just what we want our children to do with their rooms but an ISO Class 5 standard that defines the number of particles per cubic meter at a specified particle size.

Another highlight of the tour was the call center, where the manager of the department stressed the soft skills needed to handle customers calling in from all over the world when they think they have lost all their data. One of the students asked how they handle someone who is emotional distraught when calling in, and they mentioned that they have counselors on staff to handle that type of situation.

New for us this year, we toured the forensic and eDiscovery department, which works extensively with law enforcement agencies providing certified legal compliance with legal issues that surround the collection, analysis, and protection of electronic data for litigation purposes.

Some of the students and some of the instructors enjoyed the tour so much that they didn’t want to leave. Listening to the staff talk about their time that they have spent at DriveSavers makes you realize how special it is to find a company where employees enjoy working.  The instructors and students of the IT department here at Empire College thank the people of DriveSavers for their hospitality and knowledge that they share each year we journey down the freeway to tour their company.