IT Asset Disposition is knowing what to do with hardware and endpoint devices once they reached the end of their life. Your ITAD strategy includes deciding between disposal or retirement and then how and where you will remove them from circulation. In ITAD, the best practice is to reuse the hardware. That could be recycling, or repairing the asset. The last resort is to dispose of the hardware entirely.

If you are planning on disposing of the hardware, data sanitation is a necessary part of your ITAD strategy. It is the removal of data from the devices. Thus, preventing client data, brand secrets, and business analytics from getting in the wrong hands. Disposal of a laptop with data sanitation, for example, is like a bank on Wall Street not shredding their documents before throwing them out.

For large organizations, there are companies that can help with every part if your ITAD strategy. From identifying retired assets to data sanitation to picking them up and destroying them. This may not be an option for smaller organizations. Our advice is to use your IT Asset Management to help identify retired assets, and the book value of assets. Outsourcing may not be a viable option but ITAD is a good practice for companies of all sizes. ITAD strategies can help reduce costs and set up processes to either reuse, recycle, or dispose of your devices.

Why is IT Asset Disposition Important?

The retirement of your assets is becoming more important as organizations are striving to be more efficient and environmentally friendly. It’s not responsible for a company to throw away a hundred laptops in a landfill. It’s also not wise for the company to leave company data on them. ITAD encompasses securely removing or deleting data that is left on the hardware.

Further, to keep up with technology, organizations are constantly investing in new technology. ITAD strategies help organizations determine how to save costs while remaining current.

Plus, many states are implementing regulations on how to dispose of hardware. Be aware of the local or industry regulations you might need to follow.

In Europe, companies are also spending more time on ITAD strategies to accommodate legislation like the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) and the data security legislation, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). If you have customers in any European country, you are required to oblige their legislation, especially GDPR.

In summary:

6 reasons ITAD is important:

1. Increase environmentally-friendly processes

2. Protect company information

3. Plan for future purchases

4. Keep company hardware up-to-date

5. Avoid inventory of unused hardware

6. Keep up with legislations

Terms to keep in mind when building an ITAD strategy:

1. Data sanitation
2. IT Asset Recovery
3. Hardware reuse
4. Compliance with regulations
5. Repair management

How are you retiring your hardware?

 Source: https://www.horizontechnology.com/news/a-guide-to-it-asset-disposition-what-is-itad/

VIZOR specializes in IT Asset Management. We are a solution that tracks and manages your hardware and software assets. In VIZOR, disposal information can be stored. Find out more here.