45 years of experience

2,500 global clients

10 PB new data archived each year

1500+ legacy tape drives and machines available for use

Your data is only valuable when you can trust its quality and use it

Every organization holds valuable information, but it isn’t always easy to access or use.

Ovation Data helps to change that.

"We work with every kind of data! Whether it’s subsurface data from an oil field or video on an old tape, we can recover, preserve, and manage it securely, in any cloud or storage environment. That range is what makes Ovation special."
Gerrick Mutchler
Operations Manager, US
With decades of experience and purpose-built tools, we help recover, clean, and structure data you can’t afford to lose or recreate. We work with organizations across energy, life sciences, media, and heritage, where information underpins research, operations, and preservation. Wherever you are on your data journey, we help you manage growing data volumes and build adaptable resources that provide secure, long-term access to the information that helps your organization work more effectively.

Our Mission

The world is generating more data than ever before, but much of it remains unused and inaccessible. Without action, valuable knowledge risks being lost, and opportunities to improve lives and drive innovation are missed.

Our mission is to preserve, protect, and unlock the value of irreplaceable data.

Our vision is a future where organisations can rely on their data to inform research, culture, and progress.

Trust

We support you as one accountable partner throughout your data journey, working alongside your team or leading where needed, adapting our expertise to fit your environment and priorities.

Control

Your data is always your data, secure, accessible, and under your control, with no lock-in, no hidden fees, and no restrictive file formats.

Value

We help make your data usable again, so the knowledge you already hold can inform decisions, support research, and create lasting value across your organization

Experience

Whatever the format – tapes, paper, film, or digital files – our specialists recover and prepare data so it works reliably in your systems and workflows.

Meet the Team

Gregory Servos Executive Chairman Gregory is a passionate advocate for preserving and protecting data for the benefit of future generations. He is one of Ovation’s original team members and, with over 35 years of experience in organizations managing complex, high-value data, has helped grow the company into a recognized leader in digital information services. His advice and support have helped companies and public bodies worldwide ensure their irreplaceable data is safeguarded for long-term use. Learn More Andy Roddenberry Vice President Finance Managing Ovation’s global financial operations, Andy brings over 25 years of experience across finance, planning, and reporting roles. He works closely with teams worldwide to support decision-making and ensure Ovation remains financially strong and well aligned. Learn More Feng (Frank) Chen Senior Solutions Architect Frank brings decades of industry and academic geoscience experience to the Ovation team. Combining scientific and technical knowledge with strong project management skills, he helps the organizations we work with turn challenging datasets into information that is usable and reliable. Learn More Jasmine Tran Head of Strategic Partnerships and Global Key Accounts Focused on delivering a strong experience for Ovation’s clients, Jasmine works to ensure our technology and expertise align with the business goals of the organizations we support. An active contributor to international industry groups, she is passionate about improving understanding of digital transformation and effective data strategy across data-intensive sectors. Learn More James Laming Director, Global Operations James leads Ovation’s global operations, with more than two decades of experience delivering complex data recovery and management projects. Having started in the data management and transcription teams in Ovation’s UK office, he brings a deep understanding of recovery methods and data management best practice, helping ensure work is delivered reliably and to a consistently high standard across Ovation’s global teams. Learn More Allison Rivera Director of Digital Heritage Services Allison leads Ovation’s digital heritage services and has spent many years working with cultural, historical, and archival collections. Her insights and experience in this diverse field help guide our clients in preserving their unique collections and fragile items and in expanding how their archives can be accessed and used. Learn More

Our history

Helping organizations unlock the full value of their data since 1976

1976
2026

1980s–1990s:
Building a reputation in energy and geoscience

  • Founded in 1976 as Energy Laser Systems, the expansion of our services prompts a name change, and we are incorporated as Ovation Data in 1989. Executive Chair Gregory Servos is among the original employees.

     

  • We build our reputation by solving complex recovery challenges; retrieving 100% of seismic data from tapes melted and fire-damaged during the Gulf War in Kuwait and recovering data for NASA used to support future Mars landings.

2000s–2010s:
Stewardship and
large-scale recovery

  • Our industry connections and technical depth help clients navigate growing risks around legacy media; we transfer intellectual property to Sony Electronics to improve 8mm and Exabyte tape drive performance and contribute to ANSI magnetic media standards.

  • Following Hurricane Katrina, we restore access to data by removing mold and sewage from flood-damaged 21-track tapes.

  • We launch our stewardship program, with predictable migrations, multiple copies across diverse media, and client-owned data to avoid lock-in.

2020s:
Expansion beyond energy

 
  • We expand across biotech, designing and validating storage supporting human genome sequencing, helping reduce cost per sequence from around $1 million to roughly $1,000.

  • In media and heritage, we digitize decades of film and large-format construction images for AstroTurf and preserve our oldest item to date: Queen Victoria’s 1870–1871 charter granting Napoleon III residence at Camden Place.

Looking ahead

  • We continually test archive performance and cloud workflows, educate clients on service level agreements, storage limits, and egress risks, and maintain the value that your data is always your data.

"The knowledge base here is huge. Between us, we’ve seen every kind of data you can imagine, you could drop almost any dataset on someone’s desk and they’ll know what to do with it."
Paolo Russo
Digitizing Manager

For more information, contact us.

Find out how Ovation can help you transform your data from difficult problems to valued and usable resources.

James Laming

Vice President Global Operations

Since joining Ovation in 2002, James has worked in both the data management and transcription departments of the UK office, and has a thorough knowledge of seismic data, transcription methods and data management principles and best practices. James facilitates, plans and coordinates resources globally to deliver high-quality products and services that meet and exceed customer expectations. He is responsible for daily operations, including project set up, operator training and supervision, hardware maintenance, quality control, and client liaison. His position affords him the ability to implement real change by developing and enhancing software and by introducing new technology.

James holds PRINCE2® Practitioner Project Management Certification in applying global best practices in a range of different project environments and scenarios to successfully deliver projects of any size and complexity on time, to scope and within budget. He also earned Chartered Manager status from the Chartered Management Institute that recognizes exceptional management and leadership skills and commitment to professional development, demonstrating the value of a professional approach for measurable impact.

Jasmine Tran

Head of Strategic Partnerships and Global Key Accounts

Jasmine Tran is an expert in aligning technology solutions with business goals to help energy companies reap the value from long-held data resources. As council member of the Geoscience Energy Society of Great Britain (GESGB), PPDM UK, and on the EAGE Digitalization Strategic Committee, Jasmine is a recognised voice on digital transformation and data strategy worldwide.

Prior to joining Ovation, Jasmine held various positions within CGG GeoSoftware. A key member on the Global Strategic Marketing team, she pioneered marketing implementation plans and successfully transitioned the company’s value proposition and messaging from a scientific-centric perspective to a business value perspective. Initially providing marketing support for North and South America from Houston, she later managed marketing strategy and operations for Europe and Africa from The Netherlands. Jasmine holds a Master of Arts in International Relations.

Feng (Frank) Chen

Senior Solutions Architect

Frank Chen brings more than 25 years of experience in Reservoir Characterization. Recently, he served as Assistant Director of the University of Houston’s Rock Physics Laboratory, where his research focused on Unconventional Reservoir Development and CO2 Sequestration Monitoring. Previously, Frank worked as geophysical team lead at Fugro-Jason, CGG and Schlumberger, and has a solid track record of consistently delivering timely, high-quality prospects and new well locations.

Frank’s extensive experience in managing multidisciplinary geoscience teams benefits Ovation’s continuing efforts in technology innovation. His strengths include multidisciplinary workflow improvement, skill assessment, and on-the-job training for junior geoscientists. Frank also has strong project management experience gained during many complex international geoscience projects.

Philip Fraher

Chief Financial Officer

As Ovation’s CFO, Philip leads the finance, HR, legal, and operational functions. His experience in enhancing technology companies and growing them into successful businesses contributes significant expertise to the execution of Ovation’s global market development strategies. Philip has broad international experience in finance, sales & marketing, and product strategy, including venture capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, and international business expansion. He has been involved in both large organizations and small-medium sized businesses and has a passion for helping companies reach the next level.

Philip’s 30 years of senior leadership experience include roles in several B2B technology companies such as CEO of Descartes Labs; CFO of Austin-based Zilliant; CEO, COO and CFO at FuelQuest; President and CEO of Visual Numerics Inc.; COO and CFO of Brightmail Inc.; and other senior financial management positions. He earned a Bachelor of Science (Computer Engineering) from Auburn University and an MBA from the Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester.

Andy Roddenberry

Vice President Finance

Andy is responsible for the day-to-day financial operations of Ovation worldwide. He has more than 25 years of experience in various financial roles, including planning & analysis, reporting (management, board of directors, and investor). Andy enjoys his interaction with all the departments with Ovation, and appreciates the ability to form a unique perspective of the business as a whole.

Prior to joining Ovation, Andy held financial positions at Descartes Labs, Zilliant, Omni Water Solutions, Entorian Technologies, Freescale Semiconductor, Cirrus Logic, and Intersil. He earned an MBA from the University of Central Florida College of Business.

Gregory Servos

Executive Chairman

Ovation’s Executive Chairman is Gregory Servos, who previously held positions as President and CEO, COO and Operations Manager and other areas of responsibility within the company during the past 35 years. Previously, Gregory was Operations Manager at Energy Laser Systems Inc., a predecessor to Ovation Data that specialized in transferring digital information to an archiving media for future prosperity.

Gregory is one of several original employees of Ovation Data, which was founded in 1989. He helped develop Ovation into a highly respected multi-national company and a recognized world leader in digital information services. He has consulted for numerous organizations, companies, and government entities on their plans for preserving their historical information. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Texas A&M University, and has completed courses in Rice University’s Executive Education program. He serves on the board of several multi-national companies and is a strong supporter of the theatre.