Has your IT equipment reached the end of its life? It may be time to recycle it using an IT asset disposition company.
These companies will do the heavy lifting to remove and dispose of your IT.
Consequently, you get to be the hero at work who handled all that old junk that nobody wanted to deal with, all without lifting a finger yourself.
As another two added bonuses, firstly, you may actually recoup capital from the IT assets. Secondly, ITAD recycling companies specialize in protecting your data, so you can avoid the dastardly data miners and cyber attackers along the way.
If you are looking for a comprehensive list of ITAD companies, R2 has a useful tool for this purpose.
For information on ITAD companies as a whole and how to differentiate and choose between them, here is a helpful ITAD company evaluation resource.
If you’d like to get started with ITAD recycling right away, click “get started with ITAD.”
Otherwise, read on to learn about the IT asset disposition and recycling process as well as alternatives that may be more beneficial for you.
What does the ITAD Recycling Process Involve?
The first step is typically to figure out what equipment you’ve got and what your needs are. This may involve updating your configuration management database or other inventory lists to ensure that they’re current.
Here is a helpful list of network discovery tools to assist as you update your hardware map.
Once you have an accurate hardware map, you can move forward and decide on what IT asset disposition services you need.
Some typical capabilities might be large-scale drive erasure, drive shredding, decommissioning/tear down services, simple manual labor to remove the hardware, palletization, logistics/transport to recycling location, or even an initial network evaluation.
The scope and size of your project should also be considered when evaluating a vendor for ITAD recycling. A global disposition project should necessitate a global disposition vendor.
Once you’ve chosen your IT asset disposition vendor, they’ll need to know which locations and systems you need to recycle.
They will coordinate with you on time tables, costs, and the necessary documentation and policies to follow.
Typically you can expect to have your assets removed and out of your hair within one to two weeks, max, depending on the size of the project. You should be left with certificates for data destruction and responsible disposition, as well as a complete chain of custody.
Alternatives to ITAD Recycling
If your equipment is long overdue for replacement and lacks value, ITAD recycling is probably the natural choice. However, the following examples represent scenarios where it may not be.
Donate IT Equipment instead of ITAD recycling
Is the equipment still functional? Is it still more cost effective to replace? Does it lack any resale value?
If all three of these criteria are met, you may find that coordinating a donation to a school system or similar entity for a tax write-off is actually the most financially prudent decision.
In these cases, recycling through an ITAD company isn’t ideal; you may want to ask your ITAD vendor if they can coordinate such a donation for you.
3rd Party Maintenance or Component Repair
Is your equipment optimal, but simply damaged? Is it no longer under a maintenance contract?
In these cases, you may want to look into a 3rd party maintenance contract as opposed to scrapping your IT.
Here is a list of third party maintenance companies, complete with reviews and descriptions.
You also may simply need a large quantity of components repaired, and for these cases you can check out enterprise IT repair services, such as these for processor repair.
Remarketing and Profit Sharing
Does your equipment merit replacement, but still retains value?
In these cases, you’ll find the most benefit from ITAD profit sharing as opposed to recycling your systems.
In these cases, compile a list of your equipment and don’t hesitate to bid it out to several ITAD vendors who specialize in remarketing, as opposed to recycling.
With profit-sharing, reap all of the same benefits as you would in the recycling route. However, you will be the one getting paid at the end of the day, as opposed to recycling.
Note that ITAD vendors capable of remarketing your assets should also be able to take any non-valuable equipment and handle responsible recycling as well.
Which leads us to the final point:
How to Ensure Secure IT Asset Disposition?
The simplest and most important point to ensure your data’s security is to choose vendors with R2 or E-stewards certification.
If you are in the healthcare industry, you will be better served by a company experienced with HIPAA laws and healthcare projects.
This principle applies to high frequency trading, government agencies, etc.
Consequently, don’t hesitate to inquire about past clients or projects with similar circumstances to yours.
Otherwise, if you choose your vendor from the R2 or E-stewards vendor list and put them through the ringer with questions about your priorities, you’ve done most of the leg work.
You will be perfectly secure with a triple pass over-write. As long as your vendor is 3rd party audited for environmentally responsible disposition, your hands are free and clean.
If you would like a free quote on ITAD services or more information from a specialist, don’t hesitate to contact us.