According to Statista, 50 percent of all corporate data is stored in the cloud as of 2020, which is up from 30 percent in 2015. This number is only expected to rise as many workplaces have shifted to remote working options, and more are abandoning their traditional office workspaces.

Especially over the last year, Sims Lifecycle Services (SLS) has observed a notable increase in business requests for services that can support efforts to clean out corporate data centers, as they transition to either colocation or cloud storage options.

This move to the cloud means there is a large volume of on-premise data centers being decommissioned. Nine out of 10 organizations will move away from on-premise data centers by 2022, signaling that the transition is almost complete.

As data center decommissioning options evolve, SLS, among others, have innovated to create new programs to reflect these market changes. A new solution introduced by SLS includes a convenient laptop returns program that allows for remote employees to return IT equipment securely and conveniently.

As a Data Center Manager or IT Procurement Manager, your data center needs continue to change along with its requirements and solutions. Therefore, SLS put together some top questions we suggest asking of your data center decommissioning and IT asset disposition vendor to help you understand if the vendor you are considering is the best fit for you.

The following questions will provide you with a guide of what to look for when selecting your data center decommissioning service provider in regard to data security, convenience, value recovery, compliance and circularity.

Project Management and Advisory Services

  • Does your vendor provide project planning and project management resources?
  • How do they coordinate logistics and resource scheduling?

Site Surveys and Health & Safety Assessments

  • Does your vendor perform site surveys virtually and in person?
  • What are the details of Health & Safety Assessments performed?

Minimize Disruption

  • How do you minimize interruption/disruption in a live production environment?
  • Describe how your on-site services team can work quickly, safely and efficiently to minimize fees and ensure business continuity.
  • Can your team work after hours? On weekends?
  • Are you capable of doing de-installation at the site level?
  • Are there electronic items that you will not pick up?
  • Provide a list of the type of equipment you can de-install.
  • Will your team remove equipment from racks? Uninstall cabling? Remove server racks?

Confirm Data Destruction

  • Do you have on-site shredding capabilities?
  • Is an external audit for data wiping performed annually?
  • How do you ensure chain of custody for all assets?
  • Describe the standards that your company meets in wiping hard drives.
  • Can your vendor reconcile serial numbers against provided lists?

Verify Secure Logistics

  • How can you ensure all data center equipment is secure when being transported from the data center to the disposition provider?
  • Do you have sealed trucks?
  • Are you TAPA certified?

Indemnification for Liability and Compliance

  • Which of the following type of insurance do you carry?
    • Commercial and general liability
    • Umbrella coverage
    • Pollution insurance
    • Cyber insurance
  • Describe how you indemnify our company from downstream environmental liability.  How and when is liability transferred?
  • Can you match the certificate of insurance (COI) requirements for the building?
  • Do you utilize union or non-union labor? (United States only)
  • What certifications and standards do you hold from the list below?
    • Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA)
    • R2 Responsible Recycling global certification standard
    • ISO 9001 certification
    • ISO 27001 certification
    • OHSAS 18001 certification

Understand Capabilities

  • Can you bring the site back to specifications?
  • Can you remove raised floors?
  • Can you remove electrical and mechanical infrastructure?
  • Do you have access to equipment to manage this effectively? (i.e. cranes for large equipment removal)
  • What is your operational capacity to process data center equipment?

Global capabilities

  • Can you deliver these services at all my locations around the world?
  • Can you deliver standardized services in multiple regions?

Maximize Your Return

  • What are your resale strategies?
  • How do you determine the fair market value of our assets?
  • How are you managing resale of servers and other data center equipment?
  • Describe your company’s process for transport, resale and recycling of our retired IT assets.

Contribute to a Circular Economy

  • What materials do you process in-house? Do you have any of your own recycling operations?
  • Where do you send your downstream materials?
  • How can you assure that all local and global rules and regulations are always complied with?
  • What percentage of material received is either reused or recycled? Does any material go to landfill?
  • Can you report on carbon avoidance via reuse and recycling?

CALLOUT: For a more in-depth review of sample RFP questions for data center hardware circularity and ITAD vendors request your complimentary copy of our RFP template. Request your copy