A successful decommissioning project requires effective planning, coordinated efforts and when applicable, assurances that the live environment will not be disrupted. The steps outlined below provide a quick checklist of things to consider to manage the decommissioning project and ensure all off-site activities are properly managed.
SLS minimizes disruption through defined processes and robust project management. These processes ensure that data is destroyed (consistent with client requirements), that inventory is accurately audited and tracked, and that a plan is in place. This helps eliminate unnecessary storage costs and reduce logistics costs.
Equipment is disconnected and de-installed then moved to a designated work area. SLS technicians will remove:
Outdated equipment – including servers, SANs, network gear, firewalls, routers
Ancillary equipment – including docking stations, UPS, keyboards, mice
Obsolete equipment and supplies – including transformers, circuit breakers, test equipment, reels of cable, spare telco parts
Tape libraries and jukeboxes
And deinstall racks, rail kits, power cords, cabinets
Cable Mining
If required, we will identify and remove unused legacy cables that could negatively impact the production environment.
Accurate Inventory of IT Assets
SLS technicians conduct a physical inventory and verify this against a client provided master asset list. This inventory reconciliation service ensures accurate IT asset counts, which is important for financial and legal recordkeeping. Any discrepancies are reported to the on-site client contact. Assets are not packed until any discrepancies have been resolved and the inventory list is updated. Leased Equipment SLS works with clients to simplify the return of leased equipment and prevent unnecessary chargebacks. Our services include repair, cosmetic refurbishment, removal of company-applied asset tags, data erasure, and packing and shipping leased equipment back to the leasing company.
100% Digital Data Destruction Guaranteed
We recommend digital data be destroyed while assets are still in your custody. SLS offers several on-site data destruction options including physical destruction and data erasure, and can guide our clients toward a solution best fit for them. We can destroy data on magnetic hard drives and magnetic tapes, solid state drives and optical storage devices. Data erasure allows secure reuse of storage devices. We provide same-day Certificates of Data Destruction (CODD). The CODD demonstrates compliance to corporate and regulatory requirements, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). On-Site Data Destruction Details
Removal and Disposition of Legacy Equipment
After inventory is validated and data is destroyed, assets are packaged, shrink wrapped on pallets, and prepared for shipment.
Assets are tracked individually with serial number capture.
Peripheral equipment (keyboards, cables, docking stations) is boxed and tracked by weight.
Removal and Disposal of Legacy Equipment
SLS arranges shipment of assets from your facility to one of our processing facilities. We manage all logistics and ensure secure chain of custody. Logistics Services
Value Recovery
SLS technicians assess the condition and age of each asset, alongside client requirements, to determine whether assets will be resold or recycled. This behind-the-scenes processing is where reselling your assets helps recover maximum value from retired assets which can help offset the cost of decommissioning, data destruction and shipping. SLS resells assets through end user, distribution and wholesale channels. Our approach to remarketing is driven by a few key principles:
Globally selling assets in the right market for the best value at the right time
Use of data analytics to monitor market pricing and ensure highest value returns
Leveraging the expertise of our global remarketing team to maximize value recovery
Our parts harvesting program provides an additional revenue source when assets cannot be sold as a whole unit.
Any equipment that is obsolete or beyond economical repair enters our world-class recycling process. The recycling process separates steel, plastic, aluminum, copper and precious metals from each other. Our facilities are certified to ISO 14001, ISO 9001, OHSAS 18001, and R2:2013 standards, ensuring environmentally responsible and secure recycling. No e-waste is sent to landfill.
Environmentally Certified Disposition of Hazardous Items
All hazards are responsibly disposed of by licensed and audited subcontractors.
Clients track assets through the decommissioning and disposition process using the Sims Portal. The portal also delivers real-time reporting, including Certificates of Data Destruction, Certificates of Recycling and Certificates of Sustainability.
Do you have an upcoming decommissioning project? Download our “Checklist for Selecting a Decommissioning Vendor” document for ideas on how to evaluate potential service providers.
Many data center managers have found our “RFP Template for IT Asset Disposition” helpful when searching for a data center decommissioning vendor. This template offers various sample vendor questions to help find a service with compliant data destruction, reuse and recycling of IT assets.
Decommissioning and data destruction services provided at our client locations tend to be project based and require close coordination and planning. Talk to one of our business solution advisors to discuss how SLS can support your team.
