5 Top Tips for IT Asset Disposal

Thinking about an office move, expanding your hardware, or consolidating assets as part of a virtualisation project? Then you may find you have IT equipment that is no longer required or fit for purpose. However, disposing of old or redundant technology needs consideration and attention to the important issues of both data confidentiality and the impact on the environment. You need to ensure your old IT assets are disposed of in a secure, responsible, compliant manner and in line with your organisational policies. 

Here are our 5 Top Tips when considering Asset Disposal:

1. Understand the risks

IT equipment can contain highly sensitive data and information that must be handled correctly under GDPR and other privacy laws. This data can easily be recovered if not processed properly and securely, compromising both the legal compliance of your organisation and your brand reputation. 

2. Erase data securely

Deleting files or restoring factory settings is not enough to ensure data is deleted legally and effectively. There is software out there that can easily recover the content of your IT assets. You need to ensure that Secure Data destruction (SDD) or data erasure process is in place compliant with industry standards such as DoD 5220.22-m and NIST 800-88 to meet your organisational security requirements as well as your legal obligations.

3. Track your assets

Whether disposing of data-bearing assets on-site or off-site, your IT Asset Disposal company should ensure that every piece of equipment is tracked. Along with dedicated secure transportation this will provide complete end-to-end auditing, tracking, reporting and visibility throughout the process to provide full legal and data accountability.

4. Dispose, recycle or resell?

In addition to managing the disposal of your retired or redundant IT assets ITAD providers may also offer solutions for optimising IT assets through IT Recycling or even IT Buy-Back. Providing your IT hardware is still viable, there is often residual value in the equipment itself or the components within so an IT Buy-Back service may be employed to maximise its value to reduce or recover asset costs.

5. Choose a reputable partner

Working with a trusted and established IT Asset Disposal company will ensure compliance with any relevant regulations such as the WEEE Directive and ISO27001, utilise CESG data-destruction equipment and issue a Certificate of Data Destruction (CODD) to confirm your data has been destroyed and/or a Recycling Confirmation Certificate (RCC) to confirm your non data-bearing assets have been recycled or re-purposed. The right partner may also be able to assist you with the rollout of new hardware to provide a full end-to-end solution for your physical IT lifecycle.

If you are replacing your existing IT infrastructure, consolidating assets as part of a virtualisation project, or simply have a need to dispose of your redundant IT equipment, Sunspeed is here to help.