IT Asset Manager’s

Guide to Disposition
It Asset Manager’s
Guide to Disposition

As the person accountable for managing the life cycle of your organization’s IT
assets, you have a number of unique concerns in regard to the disposition of those
assets. You’re interested in learning how you can minimize the overall cost of the IT
asset disposition (ITAD) process, including recovering as much of your organization’s
investment in the equipment as possible.

If you work for a large organization, it’s likely you don’t handle every asset yourself. You
can’t personally shepherd them through the disposition process. This task falls to staff at
your company’s various locations – IT, facilities, etc. How can you make sure that every
disposition at every location is performed according to company standards? It is
also paramount that you maintain proper data security protocols at every stage of
the process in order to safeguard your company’s information.

And, since you’re responsible for tracking and documenting each of your
organization’s IT assets, what’s the most reliable way to ensure disposition data is
integrated into your asset management system?

In this document, we’ll take a closer look at some of your key concerns and offer
best practices for addressing them. Then, we’ll discuss how a holistic or corporate
program approach to IT asset disposition takes into account the ITAD concerns of
every relevant department in your organization – including those in IT asset
management – and puts a structured program in place that will standardize the
process throughout your entire enterprise.

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Table of Contents

01 How to Minimize Cost in the ITAD Process

02 Five Ways to Maximize Investment Recovery

03 How to Integrate Disposition Data into Asset Management Systems

04 The Benefits of a Holistic Itad Approach

05 ITAD Program and Your Organization’s Departments

06 Lifespan Takes the Enterprise Approach

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01 How to Minimize Cost in the ITAD Process

Chief among your concerns as an IT asset manager is minimizing the total cost of
ownership of your company’s equipment. Even though it’s not always budgeted this
way, the costs for a piece of equipment don’t end when you purchase it. You need to
consider costs throughout its life cycle, including the cost of disposition. How can you
minimize the disposition costs for IT assets?

1. Plan ahead.
Before you acquire IT assets, have a plan in place for their disposal. Preparing for disposition ahead of time will save you time and
money down the road. Add disposition costs to your budget – right along with acquisition, installation, and maintenance.

2. Choose the right partner.

Your IT asset disposition partner should be a good match with the needs of your organization. Make sure your vendor has sufficient
processing locations to serve all of your sites and the logistical capability to offer the service levels your organization requires at all
of its locations. Look for industry certifications to validate their capability and compliance: R2/RIOS, ISO 14001, and NAID AAA . You
also are usually best served by a vendor who can provide all of the disposition-related services you require in all locations.

3. Provide as much information as possible in advance.

Work with your vendor to forecast disposition needs and prepare them for the types of equipment and materials you will be sending
them. This will reduce costs and reduce the chance of unexpected requirements and costs.

4. Consider the costs of packing the material yourself.

Weigh the cost of having your own resources handle the packing of retired assets (their wages, plus their time lost for doing other
work), along with other factors, including whether you have the space to do it and access to packing materials. If you are hoping
to remarket the assets, they need to be packed to prevent damage during shipping, or you will lose significant value. Packing
this way is more time-consuming. Your ITAD partner should provide you with detailed instructions for packing or offer services to
pack for you so that shipments meet federal transportation regulations and you protect your assets’ value. It is very important
to understand all the costs and the risks involved with packaging assets yourself. The money you save by packaging in-house
can quickly be overturned if your assets are damaged in transit. This can be avoided by ensuring your packaging process is
documented and that the right people are trained. On the other hand, the cost of having your team do the packing and not doing
other projects may be significant.

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01 How to Minimize Cost in the ITAD Process

5. Don’t risk environmental non-compliance.

The fines and publicity associated with a violation will far exceed any so-called savings you might realize from low- or no-cost
offerings of a non-certified vendor. Look for a vendor certified in environmental recycling. Third-party certifications include R2/
RIOS. Require at least one so that you know your vendor is in full compliance with all state and federal regulations and meets all
industry standards and best practices.

6. Don’t risk data breach…and manage the cost of data sanitization or destruction.
Carefully plan and document the process for handling and storing assets from the moment they are retired. Review if and how data
is removed from devices by your team, and the quality and consistency of those processes. A NAID AAA certified vendor can help you
assess the risks and costs of doing it yourself or having a vendor provide onsite or plant-based data sanitization (wiping) or physical
destruction. The costs of a data breach of any type have skyrocketed. Work with your vendor to ensure you have in place the best
plan for your company.

7. Make sure you are covered.

If something does go wrong, you need to be sure your company is protected financially. Validate that your vendor has the right
amount and types of coverage, including E&O, Environmental and especially Data Breach. Data Breach insurance is a separate policy
or rider, specific to data breach costs. Ask for the Certificate of Insurance – don’t just take someone’s word for it.

8. Tailor-fit the process.

Consider different processes, services levels, or packages for your company’s different locations based on size, capability, types of
material, resources available, and other factors. For example, a data center vs a small remote sales office vs a major office site. One
size does not always fit all, especially when you consider cost. Your ITAD partner should be able to offer a variety of services –
integrated into one enterprise-wide package – depending on the needs of your different locations.

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02 Five Ways To Maximize Investment Recovery

Many unwanted technology assets still have remaining life and value. Remarketing
those assets is an opportunity for your organization to recoup some of its initial
investment, or you might cover some or all of your disposition costs. How can you
make sure your equipment is in top condition and primed for resale?

1. Handle with care.

Your equipment has survived its service to your organization intact. Don’t let it get damaged before it hits the resale market. Avoid
damage by following best practices for storing and packing your retired assets.

2. Consider price trends.

Although the market for used technology is fluid and returns can fluctuate, price trends can be identified by asset type or class.
Your ITAD partner can help you determine when your assets will go from a revenue generator to a cost creator. Plan your upcoming
refresh cycles with your partner’s input to ensure you optimize the return value of your equipment being decommissioned.

3. Move fast.
Don’t let your assets sit too long before remarketing. When new hardware releases occur, many companies move to refresh at
the same time, sending a lot of the same equipment onto the resale market. Remarketed asset values can change quickly. Avoid
stockpiling assets in closets or storage rooms. Have them removed as often as possible.

4. Keep it together.
Systems with missing components will net you lower returns. Don’t let your techs randomly pull parts from your machines. Also
make sure hard drives, power supplies, batteries, monitor stands, and all other detachable components are provided to your vendor
along with the assets. If you need parts, set aside a specific number of assets just for that purpose.

5. Sanitization, not destruction.

The difference in resale value between systems with hard drives and those without can be up to 30 percent. All the major standards
organizations in the U.S. and Europe accept proper data erasure as equal to the physical destruction of drives. A certified partner
can perform data sanitization in compliance with the latest industry standards. On the other hand, erasure does cost money, so
erasing data from equipment that won’t have resale value can be a waste. One method – erasure or destruction – does not fit all the
possible disposition scenarios, even within the same organization.

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03 How to Integrate Disposition Data into Asset
Management Systems

Whether you are using spreadsheets or integrated systems for asset management,
closing out your records accurately is important. This data can have financial, data
security, and software asset management implications.

▶ Choose a vendor that can reliably provide detailed audit reports by serial number and asset details, formatted to meet your
system requirements, for the disposition of each asset.

▶ Get timely reports. Disposition reports should be available in 30 days or less after the pickup date.

▶ Clarify to your ITAD vendor what disposition information you need reported and how it should be organized. Do you need it
organized by date, by type of material, by location, or all of the above? Does your environmental/sustainability team need
weights by material type?

▶ If you are concerned about keeping track of the assets leaving your facilities, onsite scanning of assets prior to packing is
available from some ITAD vendors. With onsite scanning, you should get a report before the truck leaves. This option also
provides stronger chain-of-custody tracking.

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04 The Benefits of a Holistic ITAD Approach

The challenge of IT asset disposition is ensuring that every disposition, at every

location, is done according to your corporate standards, and that the needs of every
department with a stake in IT asset disposition are being met while minimizing the
resources and hassle required to get it done. That challenge increases with the size
of your enterprise.

A holistic approach to ITAD responds to that challenge by implementing an

enterprise-wide program with specific roles and procedures for every link in the
chain, recognizing the differences among the various departments and locations
in your organization and tailoring the process to fit their needs and capabilities.
This approach makes it as easy as possible for team members to do ITAD
right, every time, for every location — which means doing it according to your
standards and requirements.

By implementing and following a programmatic approach to ITAD, your organization

will also be able to better manage costs and maximize returns, with an enterprise-
wide pricing and service structure from your ITAD vendor.

A holistic IT asset disposition approach meets your needs as an IT asset manager, because it:

▶ Minimizes the cost of asset disposition;

▶ Maximizes the recovery of your IT investment;

▶ Minimizes the risk of data breach or environmental violation

▶ Ensures that every disposition is handled the same way across your enterprise; and

▶ Integrates disposition data into your asset management system with a uniform set of reports and data on disposition and
data destruction.

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05 ITAD Program and Your Organization’s Departments

Other departments and team members in your organization will find their
concerns addressed by a holistic ITAD solution as well. Here are some of those
stakeholders and the concerns they might have about IT asset disposition.

Information Security/Risk Management Facilities Management

▶ Space for secure storage.

▶ Compliance: HIPPA/HITECH, SOX, GLB, PCI, etc. ▶ Availability of knowledge and materials to pack resale
▶ Corporate Policies, Governance items for safe shipment.
▶ Time/resources to do packing, audits.

IT Operations/Infrastructure Supply chain management

▶ Refresh and end-of-life decision-making to ensure

maximum value and return on investment (ROI) for
capital budget. ▶ Ensure vendors meet corporate requirements.
▶ Resource availability for hard drive data destruction. ▶ Minimal costs.
▶ Quality assurance process; ability to audit.

Finance Environmental/Sustainability/Green Team

▶ Inventory accuracy by asset, status on books. ▶ Compliance with all environmental regulations and
▶ Software and operating system license compliance. corporate sustainability goals.
▶ Minimal cost. ▶ Report details for corporate environmental/
▶ Maximum investment recovery. sustainability reporting.

Identify stakeholder needs with LifeSpan’s self-assessment guide

Do you have some of these ITAD stakeholders in your organization? LifeSpan’s guide, “How to Perform an IT Asset Disposition Plan
Self-Assessment,” can help you identify the goals, concerns, and priorities of your organization’s stakeholders and provides a
roadmap for starting the process of aligning their objectives into a comprehensive ITAD program.

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06 Lifespan Takes the Enterprise Approach

LifeSpan believes that a holistic approach is the most effective strategy for IT asset
disposition. LifeSpan specializes in creating goal-focused IT asset management and
disposition programs that minimize risk and maximize ROI.

The NextGen ITAD Program is an opportunity for you to team up with a LifeSpan ITAD
expert and create a disposition plan that accomplishes your organization’s goals.
LifeSpan will work with you as your partner, from assessment to implementation and
measurement.

The program includes:

▶ A dedicated ITAD professional. With years of experience in disposition process development and implementation, your ITAD
professional will help you complete an assessment of your current ITAD process. They can also provide information on industry
best practices, regulations and the options available to your company.

▶ A 360 Degree Disposition Process Assessment. The first step towards a next generation ITAD plan is a deep dive into your
current process.

▶ A GAP analysis. If your current process is not meeting your goals, your ITAD professional will help identify gaps in data security,
financial impact, process efficiency, and environmental compliance.

▶ A Next Generation ITAD Plan. Your ITAD professional will arm you with everything you need to launch your new disposition
process successfully, including an implementation plan and a method for measuring results.

The NextGen ITAD Program

Our focus is on your success and satisfaction. With our NextGen ITAD Program, we help you build a program that is tailored to
your organization. Learn more about LifeSpan’s NextGen ITAD Program.

To speak with one of LifeSpan’s disposition professionals call: 888-720-0900

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LIFESPAN INTERNATIONAL INC.

3612 D Street, Omaha, NE 68107, USA

75 Clegg Road, Markham, ON L6G 1A9, Canada
951 Valley View Lane #180, Irving TX 75061

Tel: (888) 720 – 0900

Email: info@lifespantechnology.com