With rapid changes in the information technology, we see that even very recently installed IT equipment become obsolete. We have to replace them with new ones often. This brings in the problem of replacing and remarketing outdated IT equipment, which is not easy. This calls for careful consideration of many things. All these factors involved in the disposal of the outdated IT equipment lead to the process called Information Technology Assets Disposition, popularly called the ITAD.
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What is ITAD
ITAD is the carefully planned, comprehensive, step-by-step process employed by a business to take care of the IT assets disposal in a safe, secure, and economically profitable, and ecologically responsible manner. ITAD takes care of the various issues that are connected with the disposal of the old, end-of-the-day IT equipment sensibly and responsibly following a well-planned strategy.
Though ITAD takes care of many processes that require careful consideration, the primary concerns among them are dealing with confidential device data, environmental hazards, and logistics that are used while implementing the processes connected with ITAD.
Some of the most important functions of a well-planned ITAD process aim at minimizing the costs of the IT equipment disposal while maximizing the returns on the remarketed technology. This also aims at providing the required safeguards to maintain a higher level of data safety and security. In the present day, the ITAD processes are metric specific and are capable of being fully auditable and trackable steps that can be measured against the strategically planned imperatives of any particular business.
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Stages of ITAD processes
Any business that is planning ITAD as the way of replacing or remarketing the old IT equipment must go as per the following roadmap so that the ITAD gives the best possible outcomes to the business:
- Marking and Deinstallation of IT assets
- Processes involved in Data Destruction and Sanitization
- Logistics and movements of IT assets for disposal
- IT Assets refurbishment
- Remarketing of IT Assets
- Lease return management
- IT assets Disposition and Recycling
- Reporting and certification of ITAD related processes
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Marking And De-Installation Of Assets
Though this is the first stage of the ITAD process, it is the most important stage of the ITAD and involves the technical teams and another workforce that are well aware of the terms and conditions of proper ITAD. They work towards identifying, marking, and uninstalling the outdated IT equipment from the entire network and physically remove them from the corporate infrastructure. The identified IT assets are taken offline, and the decoupling functions are performed with the installation of the new IT equipment.
A well-planned step-by-step process is set in motion to remove the unwanted IT equipment and to replace them with new ones without affecting the integrity, utility, and security of the IT infrastructure. In this process, the data-bearing devices are specially taken care of by completely uninstalling them, removing the network access in all forms, and accounting for them in a meticulous manner.
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Processes Involved In Data Destruction And Sanitization
This is one of the most important parts of the entire ITAD process and is a crucial one as it involves the processes that are needed to handle sensitive data-bearing devices. This stage is aimed at dealing with PCs, printers, FAX machines, tablets. etc., that can store data before their decommissioning. Utmost attention must be paid to wiping the data contained in them. These devices must be handled as per the considerations like time, the cost involved in the data wiping process, and any regulatory considerations must adhere to sensitive data’s legal disposal.
This process of handling and wiping out sensitive data may take place either on-site or in a remote location, but care must be taken to ensure that the data contained in the disposed IT assets are properly accounted for and made inert without any chance of retrieval by unauthorized persons.
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Logistics And Movements Of IT Assets For Disposal
This is the action part of the ITAD processes, and it involves the physical movement of the IT assets from your premises to the location of the ITAD performing service provider. As this is the most important part of the process, take care to use only a verified and capable service provider that has the necessary expertise and workforce to carry out the requirements of the logistics involved in this stage of the ITAD.
The service provider must have the necessary diligence and must have all the necessary downstream logistics in place to make sure the logistics process proceeds without any hitch or delay. He must be able to provide you with the necessary documentation by way of auditable reports to account for the assets that have been handed over to him as a part of the ITAD process.
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IT Assets Refurbishment
This is the next stage of the ITAD process, handled by the Service provider, usually in his remote location. This process involves taking stock of the IT equipment that is taken for proper disposal and segregating the ones that can be remarketed for utilizing the residual life cycle duration. After identifying the IT equipment that can be remarketed, these equipment are subjected to the necessary refurbishment in such a way that they can bring in better prices while disposing of them in the market.
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Remarketing Of IT Assets
This is another important phase of the ITAD where the service provider has the necessary facilities and arrangements for the profitable resale or recycling of the IT equipment that was brought under the ITAD processes. This usually comes after the stages of data sanitization, shipping, and refurbishment. At this stage, all the opportunities to place the IT equipment in the market are explored to find the right buyers for the used devices that can be used in a better way rather than just dumping them in a landfill.
A good ITAD service provider has ongoing arrangements with various stakeholders in the IT industry and knows how to bring better prices and better utility to the disposed of IT assets. The service provider must provide you the reports regarding the resale assets and the amount of money you are getting out of the sale proceeds.
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Lease Return Management
This stage of the ITAD process involves providing ITAD services by leasing out some of the most viable IT assets to end-users for better realization of the disposed of assets. This can be done in a more streamlined manner if the same service provider can take care of the procurement of new IT assets as well as the disposal of the old equipment.
The service provider chosen must be able to have a list of lessees for the assets they are managing and help them find the best available equipment among the disposed of IT equipment that will serve their purpose so that they are ready to take these assets on lease for better use of this equipment.
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IT Assets Disposition And Recycling
After the IT assets are identified, segregated, shipped, refurbished, leased out, or remarketed, what remains with the ITAD provider is nothing but the e-waste. The service provider must be very proficient in the proper and ecologically safe, and responsible ways of disposing of e-waste. E-waste is fast becoming one of the most significant threats of the IT industry to the environment. It must not be forgotten that the entire ITAD processes that are planned and executed have this as their main directives.
So, it is very much necessary that the ITAD service provider can provide the best services concerning the proper disposal of the e-waste, and it must be handled in a very responsible manner.
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Reporting And Certification Of ITAD Related Processes
This is the concluding phase of the entire ITAD processes, and it is the final part of the continuous flow of processes and provides the auditable reports as to the proper disposal of the IT equipment that was marked for ITAD. In most cases, these reports form the basis for the legal compliance of certain regulations and may be needed for internal audit as a way of finding the profitable amounts that were received out of the ITAD efforts. This receipt of the reports and certifications from your ITAD provider is proof of the ITAD process’s conclusion.
Thus, ITAD occupies an important phase in the life cycle of corporate infrastructure management, and it must be an ongoing process. It must be given due consideration for successful, profitable, and responsible disposal of your unwanted and end-of-life IT assets.
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To Summarize
Datacenter ITAD especially focuses upon the responsible disposition of IT gear used by cloud and organization vendors in their data centers.
For an enterprise, hardware lifecycle management should start before new equipment is bought. Protocols for safe disposal should exist as part of established workflows that follow a device through its lifecycle.
Before companies proceed to eliminate data center hardware, they should fully consider options for your repair, reuse, or recycle of the equipment when it’s no more needed.
Since the marketplace for data center ITAD services grows, companies must perform higher levels of due diligence on ITAD companies to make certain they’re working with a partner that places data security and regulatory compliance.
I hope this blog has given you some clarity when it comes to What is ITAD and How Does It Work? If you want to know about our ITAD services, please feel free to connect with us.
Relevant Resources:
Where You Can Sell Your Old IT Equipment (Part 1)
Find Places to Sell your Old Computer Parts and get back its Current Worth (Part 2)