Home > Blog > The Importance of Selecting a Certified IT Asset Disposition Service Provider

January 21st, 2019

The Importance of Selecting a Certified IT Asset Disposition Service Provider

The Importance of Selecting a Certified IT Asset Disposition Service Provider

Due to a combination of fast-moving technology and the lowering cost of hardware, the lifecycle of IT assets has dramatically decreased. While ensuring that your workforce remains productive with the latest PCs, laptops, and smartphones is essential, disposing of your assets by a certified IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) service provider is equally so.

Selecting the right ITAD Service Provider for your company has never been so important. In recent years, numerous regulations have been put in place designed to ensure companies comply with legislation governing everything from the environmental impact of old assets to the data which was contained on them. Failure to dispose of such assets can lead to heavy fines and damage your company’s reputation.

While IT assets are, on one level, electronic waste, they should not be confused with domestic electronic waste such as televisions, fridges and home computers. A recycling center may have the authority to dispose of such items in line with environmental regulations such as the EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive), this should not be confused with actual data destruction.

Also, before disposing of your IT assets, it is recommended that a full IT audit is performed for your company. Such an audit will log each asset by serial number, date, and location, among other details. While network crawlers can provide data on your inventory, your ITAD provider should offer a physical, global inspection.

This creates the most reliable audit of your assets by verifying their existence and examining their actual physical condition.

With your audit to hand, you have three choices: asset destruction, asset recovery for reuse, and asset recovery for remarketing. And for each process, your ITAD provider should offer a real-time method of reporting, typically via an online portal.

An audit will enable you to track the entire disposition process. This will include secure on-site or off-site data sanitization and destruction by vetted and professional staff. Sanitisation uses techniques such as erasure and degaussing in order to ensure that data does not remain on hard disks.

Failure to remove data may lead to a data breach and associated fines. It is important to remember that it is your company – and not the ITAD provider – who pays the fines.

When assets are transported off-site, they must be done so in a secure manner and, once they are destroyed, your ITAD provider must present you with a certificate of data destruction at the end of the process.

Also, your ITAD provider should be able to perform this service on large numbers of assets and in multiple global locations.

Environmentally Certified ITAD providers

From an environmental perspective, any toxic components within electronic waste must be disposed of properly and in line with regulations. The industry standard for certified ITAD providers is the R2 and an e-Stewards certification.

The R2 certificate requires that certified companies must have a policy on managing used and end-of-life electronics equipment, components and materials based on strategies such as reuse, materials and energy recovery and/or disposal.

Whereas e-Stewards ensure that electronic recyclers adhere to the most stringent environmentally and socially responsible practices when recovering hazardous electronic materials. This includes not shipping assets to poorer countries where often underage workers may be exposed to toxic materials.

Reusing Parts

Your audit will also detail possible parts which may be either reused in the company or remarketed as ‘new’ supply equivalents.

Reusing IT parts throughout your company will lower your IT spend and cut down on waste. Also, if you have performed a physical audit of all your equipment – and not just a network crawl – then you will have a clear idea of the condition of all your IT assets and what servicing/parts are required.

To sell parts as ‘new’ supply equivalents, a detailed understanding of this market is essential in order to select in-demand items which can be efficiently sold. Your ITAD provider should have a global presence to achieve the optimum price in the USA, Europe, and Asia.

Not only is this good for the environment, but the profit made on the items will also lower the cost of your overall disposition strategy.

In summary, your ITAD strategy should not be thought of as a once-off plan but an on-going process. As technology changes, disposing of IT assets have become an increasingly common occurrence. Therefore, it’s vital to partner with an established, certified company with a global reach who will work diligently with your IT department and in line with your company’s environmental ethos.

If you have any questions or if you would like help establishing cost-effective ITAD strategy please contact our Wisetek team: https://wisetek.net/contact-us/