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If you have been following the recent Sidekick data outage loss incident, you may have already heard that Microsoft has since officially announced that the data has most likely been lost—forever.

Regrettably, based on Microsoft/Danger’s latest recovery assessment of their systems, we must now inform you that personal information stored on your device – such as contacts, calendar entries, to-do lists or photos – that is no longer on your Sidekick almost certainly has been lost as a result of a server failure at Microsoft/Danger.

That same statement went on to say that;

However, the likelihood of a successful outcome is extremely low.

While some (myself included) may poke fun at the Sidekick in today’s smartphone market, this incident should cause anyone who uses a cloud or web based service to sit up and pay attention.

I will admit that at first I thought nothing about the Sidekick data loss, because I do not use a Sidekick.  But then I remembered that the data that was lost was technically “in the cloud.”  That triggered something in my cloud-loving-mind, this incident may not have affected me, but if this happened with another company it very well could have affected me.

What this did give me was a nice reminder, which I will pass on to you.  Make sure you are backing up all of your data.  This of course goes for your cloud based apps, but should also be applied to any data that you have stored locally on your network.

Again—backup, backup, backup, and then when you finish, make sure you backup.

Granted, that last statement may be a little overkill, but in short, you should never fully trust a cloud or web based service.  After all, the Sidekick is a major platform, one that is owned by Danger/Microsoft and I would imagine that most would have thought the data was safe.  Finally, below you can read the full announcement that was posted in the T-Mobile Support Forums.

Read [T-Mobile Support Forums]

Sidekick customers, during this service disruption, please DO NOT remove your battery, reset your Sidekick, or allow it to lose power.

Updated: 10/10/2009 12:35 PM PDT

T-MOBILE AND MICROSOFT/DANGER STATUS UPDATE ON SIDEKICK DATA DISRUPTION

Dear valued T-Mobile Sidekick customers:

T-Mobile and the Sidekick data services provider, Danger, a subsidiary of Microsoft, are reaching out to express our apologies regarding the recent Sidekick data service disruption.

We appreciate your patience as Microsoft/Danger continues to work on maintaining platform stability, and restoring all services for our Sidekick customers.

Regrettably, based on Microsoft/Danger’s latest recovery assessment of their systems, we must now inform you that personal information stored on your device – such as contacts, calendar entries, to-do lists or photos – that is no longer on your Sidekick almost certainly has been lost as a result of a server failure at Microsoft/Danger. That said, our teams continue to work around-the-clock in hopes of discovering some way to recover this information. However, the likelihood of a successful outcome is extremely low. As such, we wanted to share this news with you and offer some tips and suggestions to help you rebuild your personal content. You can find these tips in our Sidekick Contacts FAQ. We encourage you to visit the Forums on a regular basis to access the latest updates as well as FAQs regarding this service disruption.

In addition, we plan to communicate with you on Monday (Oct. 12) the status of the remaining issues caused by the service disruption, including the data recovery efforts and the Download Catalog restoration which we are continuing to resolve. We also will communicate any additional tips or suggestions that may help in restoring your content.

We recognize the magnitude of this inconvenience. Our primary efforts have been focused on restoring our customers’ personal content. We also are considering additional measures for those of you who have lost your content to help reinforce how valuable you are as a T-Mobile customer.

We continue to advise customers to NOT reset their device by removing the battery or letting their battery drain completely, as any personal content that currently resides on your device will be lost.

Once again, T-Mobile and Microsoft/Danger regret any and all inconvenience this matter has caused.