Improve Your ITAD Program in Three Easy Steps

Improve Your ITAD Program in Three Easy Steps

How educated are you when it comes to the state of your ITAD program? Do your IT requirements demand complete knowledge of all assets across the globe or merely a general inventory? Maybe you fall somewhere in between. The details of your program are directly related to how well you will be able to track not only the assets themselves, but the data that is contained on them when the time comes for end-of-life asset management.

Sims Lifecycle Services’ (SLS) newly created SLS ITAD Maturity Model was designed not only to assist companies manage their ITAD programs, but to provide numerous ways to improve it. We have integrated our experience and history of collaborating with customers to develop this tool, and have outlined three actions to improve the state of your ITAD program.

1. Start with a List

In addition to being a fundamental component of your ITAD, a detailed inventory list provides the critical first step of a secure and defined chain of custody as retired data bearing assets are moved from your location to an outside facility.

Every company tracks resource details differently. The number, type and location of assets is typically the minimum information to start with. Make, model and serial number information is beneficial, although not always available.  A catalog of which assets are data bearing and need special handling is critical for the data security of your company. Any vendor you work with will need to understand where assets are located, how data bearing assets will be handled and basic information on condition and age to determine if assets can be reused or will be recycled.

This level of detail will also help you anticipate potential variables that may affect the final cost of your ITAD program, such as handling, asset tracking requirements and logistical costs. 

Detailed inventory of all of your assets helps you more fully understand your ITAD project cost, financial value of your assets, and security requirements before assets are removed from the live environment. Without this information, keeping track of assets will only become more problematic as the ITAD process evolves.

2. Use This List to Develop Your ITAD Program

Once you determine the volume, condition, age and location of your assets you are much better positioned to gain a greater appreciation of how your IT landscape corresponds with your company’s data security and compliance requirements, recognize gaps in your program and identify opportunities to improve. 

Developing written standard operating procedures (SOPs) for how retired IT assets are handled by your employees and by your ITAD vendor is critical when developing a compliant ITAD program. Equally critical is that these procedures be approved by your risk management team and your data privacy officer. 

The move towards standardization with detailed asset specifications will yield significant benefits, including assurance that the entire scope of your ITAD program is accounted for, creation of a staged plan to introduce the program locally, improved quality assurance and the ability to adjust to market and industry changes. Managing this process by measuring the outcomes will facilitate consistency and continuous improvement throughout. 

Coordination with other departments including accounting, legal, sustainability, data privacy and compliance will also be realized. 

Goals for your ITAD program should be clearly defined and should include financial targets, risk management, data protection and sustainability objectives. With greater knowledge of your ITAD landscape you will achieve the right balance between security, value recovery and cost for your company. 

3. Develop a Budget

Once you have a documented understanding of your ITAD structure you are ready to take the next step in your program and develop a budget. Requesting a budget requires you to consider how an ITAD program will be managed, who will be assigned responsibility and what will be accomplished. 

Use your detailed asset inventory and understanding of your company’s ITAD standing to develop detailed specifications which can be accomplished and will allow you to project accurate potential financial returns and sustainability gains.

Gartner has consistently noted in their Market Guides for IT Asset Disposition that “ITAD too often becomes an [unfunded] afterthought that carries significant risks.” 

Budgets are approved with cost justifications and plans. Complete knowledge of your company’s assets will ensure that the entire scope of your ITAD program is accounted for in your budget. 

These recommendations are but a few of the steps you can take to enhance and better understand your ITAD needs in line with both industry best practices as well as your company’s specific security protocols.