By Chris Keenan

 

If you’re a CIO, IT director, or just someone put in charge of managing the disposal of your business’s old IT hardware, you must know the importance of proper IT asset disposition (ITAD). 

 

IT asset disposition refers to the practice of reusing, recycling, repurposing, repairing, or disposing of old and unwanted IT equipment safely and environmentally responsibly. Disposing of old IT assets is not as simple as putting unwanted electronics out on garbage day. Not only is it illegal in many states to discard electronics in a landfill, but you must also be wary of compliance and data security breaches.

 

Fortunately, discarding used equipment doesn’t have to be difficult, either. Keep reading to learn six handy tips that will help you with the IT asset disposal process. 

1. Asset Remarketing Adds to the Recoverable Value

All IT equipment either fails or becomes obsolete at some point. The biggest nightmare for an IT manager is a systems or hardware failure. Part of any good IT strategy is to plan for regular upgrades, many IT managers will tell you it’s to ensure the business is benefiting from the best tech, but it’s also to reduce the likelihood of catastrophic hardware meltdowns. 

 

Upgrades have three expenses: hardware, implementation, and disposal. If you add to your upgrade plan a value recovery curve, you can massively reduce the last of those costs.

 

So, what’s a value recovery curve? Simply put, if you plan to upgrade your IT systems, you should also plan to dispose of the IT assets you’re replacing whilst they still hold a reasonable market value. 

 

Most companies today use IT asset disposition services to generate some revenue from the remarketing of their old IT assets. Items such as used computers, used laptops, old servers, replaced network equipment, and other such IT hardware can hold a good second-hand value. Bringing your upgrade schedule forward by even as little as six months can result in massively increasing the remarketing (reselling) value of your old equipment. 

 

On the other hand, the longer you leave the upgrade, the less value you can hope to recuperate from your obsolete IT hardware. A useful tip is to upgrade every 30 months if you’re on a three-year cycle. If you’re on a five-year cycle, you should consider changing that to four. Keep in mind that most buyers of old or refurbished IT assets are looking for items with at least 18 months of OS support and software relevance.

Old IT assets cannot be thrown in the trash, they need to be properly recycled

 

2. Proper IT Asset Disposition Provides Data Destruction

The most important thing you need to do is destroy all your old hard drives. Here’s the catch: most old IT assets drop massively in value if you’ve destroyed their hard drives. For example, more people are looking to buy second-hand laptops with hard drives than without.

 

Failure to destroy your hard drives can result in the wrong people getting their hands on sensitive data, and I’m not just talking about business data or data that you are legally required to protect. Personal data, contact data, and even low-level business operations data can be recovered and used to plan devastating cyber-attacks.

 

So, what’s the solution? Regarding data destruction, most ITAD service providers offer onsite (at your work’s premises) and offsite (a secure data destruction facility that offers advanced hard drive wipes and shredding) hard drive data destruction services. 

 

Companies like Newtech Recycling go one step further: we will help you identify which of your IT assets are worth refurbishing with new drives and which computers can be remarketed without concerns over data breaches. So it’s worth giving Newtech a call before you decide what to do with your old hardware and IT assets.

3. You Can Reduce the Cost of Removal

Deinstallation of IT hardware can be a costly process. You can save a lot if you uninstall and neatly pack the retired hardware yourself. 

 

You wouldn’t be blamed for thinking, ‘that much is obvious,’ but what you may not realize is most ITAD service providers will help you with some really useful things that will minimize or eliminate many of the costs associated with IT asset disposition. 

 

First, ask your ITAD provider if they can pre-supply cages or pallets. Stacking the pallets or filling the cages yourself will save a ton on manual costs. Also, ask your ITAD service provider to send you their default inventory list and fill it out for them. That way, all the ITAD removal manager needs to do is cross-check the list on collection. If managed well, all you’ll be paying for is the pickup charges.m

4. Managing Licenses Gives You an Advantage 

If you are thinking of remarketing your retired IT assets, software licenses can make all the difference. Having the original OS for each individual machine that you want to remarket can give you a solid competitive advantage. 

 

Did you also know if you’re reselling your hardware with other used software licenses, this can help the sale to exceed market value? The ECJ decision has legally confirmed that organizations can resell “used” software licenses, regardless of whether they were purchased in a physical form or downloaded from the internet. This is fantastic news for remarketing used IT assets, however, just make sure there’s a chain of accountability.

When looking for an ITAD company, find one that is either R2 or e-Stewards certified.

 

5. Recycle E-Waste to Eliminate Liability 

IT asset remarketing is all well and good, but at some point, IT hardware just reaches the end of its life. When that happens, you need to ensure you have it recycled by an authorized e-waste recycler. Failure to dispose of your IT hardware correctly can cause you and your company major problems. 

 

Here’s what you should look for when choosing an IT asset disposition service:

 

  1. The ITAD company managing the disposal of your old IT hardware needs to be either R2 or e-Stewards certified.
  2. Look for ISO 14001 Certification.
  3. Ideally, you should look for some degree of state approval, as well as EPA recognition.
  4. Look at what they are truly able to process. You want a company that can manage all your e-waste, from cabinets to photocopiers and laptops to data centers.

6. Form A Good Partnership

When it comes to the disposal and remarketing of your business’s old IT hardware, you need your ITAD provider to be someone you can trust to get the job done. The East Coast has a booming IT industry and with it are some fantastic ITAD companies. You’ll find companies such as Newtech Recycling, who pride themselves on offering a red-carpet, white-glove service. 

Newtech IT Asset Disposition 

If you want to dispose of or remarket unwanted IT equipment in the tri-state area, we can help. We have the capability of properly disposing of old computers, printers/copy machines, scientific equipment, and cell phones. We also offer data destruction services to protect personal information. 

 

No matter the size of the project or the type of obsolete technology, Newtech Recycling fulfills every requirement promptly and professionally. For more information on our disposal services, call 732.564.3110.