It’s only natural that as your business grows and changes so will your IT needs, but it’s important that you deal with your redundant IT equipment effectively. Not only is this important for the sake of GDPR compliance, it’s also vital to protect your business data. While it is technically possible to deal with your ITAD needs in-house, there are undeniable benefits to hiring a professional ITAD company. But what exactly are the benefits of hiring an ITAD partner? Let’s take a look.
Data Destruction
It’s vital that, whatever you plan to do with your redundant IT equipment, you remove the data from each device. This is about more than simply hitting the delete key, and different data sensitivities will require different approaches to destruction. Ineffective destruction could put your business at risk, not only because of the potential for important business information falling into the wrong hands, but also because it puts client information at risk, which could lead to reputational damages.
Economise on time
Effective and thorough ITAD takes time, a commodity that’s in short supply in today’s fast-paced business world. Attempting to tackle ITAD in-house has a number of potential difficulties:
- You don’t have enough time to complete the job as effectively as you might hope as steps are brushed over or missed out altogether;
- You leave ITAD tasks to accumulate until they’re ‘worth addressing’, opening up the potential for a data breach as redundant IT equipment is left for long periods of time;
- You neglect other important aspects of work in order to address the issue of ITAD.
Hiring a dedicated ITAD partner takes away the worry of this. Instead, you’re able to simply pass on your ITAD tasks as they arise, safe in the knowledge that they will all be handled as a matter of priority by qualified professionals. Not only does this improve data security, it also allows you to maximise on the resale value of old IT equipment.
Asset Tracking
Businesses are responsible for the whereabouts and security of data at all stages in its life cycle, from the moment it enters your possession to how it is disposed of. Hiring an ITAD partner helps you keep on top of this asset tracking, providing you with a record of serial numbers at all stage of the process, right through to data destruction and resale or destruction of devices when you’ll receive a certificate of destruction. Of course, this record of chain of custody is an important part of complying with the GDPR as it demonstrates accountability for business data and devices.
Environmental Protection
Unfortunately, disposing of redundant IT equipment isn’t as simple as putting it in with the rest of your business waste. Computers and other IT devices contain chemicals that can be dangerous for the environment, which is why they’re banned from many landfill sites. Failure to comply with guidelines and regulations that protect the environment can have serious financial and reputational implications on your business, which are easily avoidable. Partnering with an ITAD supplier that has a Waste Carriers Licence, issued by the government, is a safe way to ensure that your old devices are disposed of in line with environmental protection guidelines, such as the WEEE Directive. Such certification also means your redundant IT equipment is always recycled or resold wherever possible, rather than simply disposed of.
With over 25 years industry experience, tier1 are proud to be the UK’s most accredited ITAD supplier. We possess the skills, accreditations and experience to handle our clients’ data with the care they deserve, and to dispose of it responsibility and legally.
Contact us today on 0161 777 1000 or visit https://www.tier1.com to find out how we can help you dispose of your data safely and reliably.
