Why Implement an ITAD Program? Risk mitigation, value recovery, responsible recycling

IT Asset Disposition, or ITAD, is the process of managing the decommissioning of end-of-use IT assets in a manner that ensures data security and environmental compliance while maximizing residual value. Typically, an ITAD partner will collect your IT assets and make sure your company data is removed either by using software to overwrite the data or physically destroying the hard drives. Once the data has been sanitized and if the system still has value, the equipment can be redeployed within the organization for reuse or sold on the secondary market, allowing the company to recover the residual value. If the systems are non-functional, too old to be of further use, and are unable to be reused or resold, the ITAD processor will recycle the assets in a responsible and compliant manner. An ITAD program protects organizations from liability using secure and compliant services to manage the end-of-life of their IT assets.

Such programs are important for the following five main reasons:

Protects from Data Breaches

Every year, thousands of data breaches occur and expose millions of records. In fact, data breaches cost an organization an average of $4.45M in hard and soft costs (IBM 2023 report). While many of these instances are due to stolen information, ransomware and phishing schemes, every disposed piece of IT equipment that contains confidential information is at risk unless the data is first sanitized. Ensuring your data is destroyed by wiping, shredding or degaussing hard drives is essential to the security of any IT disposition program.

Ensures Regulatory Compliance

Businesses — both large and small — contend with an intimidating amount of legislation concerning the processing and destruction of data recorded on corporate systems. Failure to meet the standards set forth in the ever-expanding list of regulations can have a range of consequences and monetary fines may be the least serious of them. Federal regulations exist on top of innumerable other state specific data privacy and disposal laws that your company might be subject to. Using an ITAD provider that can deliver certificates of recycling, data erasure, destruction and disposal and that provides liability indemnification can give you peace of mind while ensuring that you are in compliance with relevant regulations.

Promotes Environmental Sustainability

Now more than ever, organizations are focused on helping reduce the environmental impact of their end-of-use devices. One way to support these initiatives is through an intentional approach to asset disposition. By implementing a data sanitization policy and focusing on steering functional assets towards reuse instead of recycling, organizations can protect their company data while making more sustainable decisions. For equipment that cannot be reused, an e-Stewards certified ITAD program will ensure that all e-waste is responsibly recycled and that processes are performed with core objectives that include data security, health and worker safety, no exporting, no prison labor and no dumping or incineration – making your ITAD program an integral part of your Corporate Social Responsibility program.

Maximizes Recovery Values

Extracting the maximum residual value from your company’s end-of-use products is one of the most profitable ways to use IT disposition and recovery services to your advantage. Equipment that is not needed for redeployment, but that still has value, is sold in secondary markets through a variety of channels (B2C, B2B, liquidation and auction) to receive an optimal return on the assets.

Provides Detailed Asset Tracking

Secure and detailed reporting of assets at end-of-life is critical to ensure accountability within an ITAD program. Online portals will provide you with the ability to track assets throughout the disposition process, providing a documented and auditable trail of final disposition status and data destruction certificates for every asset disposed of.

Connect with us today to implement or enhance your ITAD program. We have partnered with Ingram Micro to provide multiple ITAD initiatives for our clients.