The disclosure is related to monitoring a portable electronic device to detect an occurrence of a power event. A command can be sent to a data storage device to initiate a maintenance procedure on the data storage device. In a particular embodiment, a method includes monitoring a portable electronic device to detect an occurrence of a power event. The method also includes selectively sending a command to a data storage device to initiate a maintenance procedure on the data storage device when the occurrence of the power event is detected.