FIVE REASONS WHY HIRING A THIRD-PARTY SPECIALIST MAKES SENSE WHEN SECURELY DISPOSING YOUR IT ASSETS

FIVE REASONS WHY HIRING A THIRD-PARTY SPECIALIST MAKES SENSE WHEN SECURELY DISPOSING YOUR IT ASSETS

IT professionals realize that old, broken or decommissioned IT assets can’t be simply thrown away or stacked in the corner of a conference room. But some organizations balk at the idea of hiring an experienced specialist for secure IT asset disposition. Here are five reasons why it makes sense to outsource the task rather than trying to handle it internally. Most IT organizations and their business stakeholders have embraced the concept of information lifecycle management, which requires a strategic, long-term view of how to manage data during all points in its lifespan. But fewer organizations have thought about the importance of having an end-to-end plan for the IT assets that create, house, manage and share that data. Think of this as an IT asset lifecycle management strategy, incorporating the all-important end-of-life activities for IT equipment and the proprietary data it contains.
After all, IT assets — from data center servers and storage to end-user devices and even
data-bearing office equipment — have finite lifecycles. Accountants certainly must plan
for the declining value of those assets according to standardized depreciation schedules,
while IT organizations must take into account expected periods of use for budgeting,
operating plans and the eventual replacement and disposal of the assets.
In reality, however, many organizations fail to pay sufficient attention to how, when and where they dispose of IT assets. As a result, it’s not unusual for those organizations to experience higher than necessary costs, disruption of important business operations and potential financial, legal and competitive exposure due to improper disposition practices. There are big issues to take into account: data privacy, compliance, environmental requirements, cost-recovery opportunities, operating cost efficiencies and optimal use of precious internal staff resources.