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IT Asset Recovery Ultimate Guide: Maximize Returns

Unduit has helped companies of all sizes achieve remarkable IT asset recovery rates. We have successfully boosted recovery rates from minimal fractions to an impressive range of 80-90%, resulting in substantial savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars in IT budgets. What's our secret to success? It's rooted in a decade of dedicated research and mastering the optimization process for complex organizations with thousands of employees spanning the globe.   But here's the best part: we're excited to share all the valuable insights with you. In this ultimate guide to IT asset recovery, you'll find everything you need to know about optimizing your asset recovery process and achieving maximum ROI on your EOL technology. What is IT Asset Recovery? IT asset recovery is the process of retrieving and managing company-owned technology devices from employees or other sources. It helps ensure efficient resource utilization, cost savings, and data security. Sometimes this term is also used to refer to the entire process of retrieving, managing, and potentially extracting value from IT assets that are no longer in use or needed by a company.    Importance of Professional Asset Recovery Service Even though companies have the option to handle asset retrieval in-house, leveraging professional asset recovery services offers several advantages. By partnering with a reputable service provider, organizations can always ensure the following benefits: Cost Savings: Professional services help maximize cost savings by recovering and repurposing IT assets instead of purchasing new devices. Resource Optimization: Partnering with a service provider frees up company resources that would otherwise be dedicated to asset recovery, allowing them to focus on more critical tasks. Data Security: Asset recovery company ensures that sensitive company information is securely handled during the whole process and they can be held accountable if there's any data breach. Environmental Responsibility: Service providers promote sustainability by facilitating proper recycling or refurbishment of recovered assets, reducing electronic waste. Compliance and Risk Mitigation: Specialized organizations specialize in helping companies comply with regulatory requirements and mitigate the risk of data breaches. Automated Workflow: Utilizing an automated workflow system, service providers streamline and ensure efficiency and accuracy at every step.   The Procedure of IT Asset Recovery Assessment and Deployment Recovering company assets is a critical process that begins with a thorough assessment and deployment strategy. This involves identifying the assets to be recovered, evaluating their condition, and determining the most suitable approach for each device. Asset Assignment and Tracking To ensure proper management and accountability, recovered assets are assigned to specific employees or departments. This allows for efficient tracking throughout the recovery process, providing visibility into the ownership and location of each asset. Reporting and Data Security Data security is of utmost importance during the IT asset recovery process. Comprehensive reporting mechanisms are implemented to track the progress and status of each asset. Measures are taken to safeguard sensitive data through secure erasure or destruction methods. Asset Removal and Repurposing Once data security measures are in place, assets are removed from employees' possession. Depending on their condition and company requirements, the recovered assets can be repurposed for internal use or refurbished for resale. Another option is to donate the assets to charitable organizations, extending their lifespan and making a positive social impact. Choosing to Warehouse and Redeploy, Recycle, or Resell Professional asset recovery services usually offer organizations three primary options: warehousing and redeployment, recycling, or reselling. Warehousing and Redeployment  Recovered assets in good condition can be stored in a designated warehouse for future use (after refurbishment). This allows for internal redeployment to other employees or departments, maximizing resource utilization and minimizing unnecessary expenses. Recycling To ensure the safety of company data and minimize environmental impact, assets that are no longer functional or needed can undergo responsible asset disposition.  Reselling Organizations that no longer require old equipment but prefer not to recycle them can opt for liquidation by properly reselling the recovered assets. Liquidation provides an opportunity to recoup some of the investment while ensuring proper data destruction and compliance with regulatory requirements. Choosing the Right Asset Recovery Company It's important to choose a vendor that has extensive experience dealing with retired IT equipment. An experienced team of asset recovery specialists can help you get maximum residual value from every retired IT asset. Here are the major factors when evaluating vendors: Secure Chain of Logistics: Look for a vendor that prioritizes the secure transportation and handling of your assets and offers maximum visibility. This includes secure packing, using asset tag for better asset tracking, chain of custody records, and transportation insurance to safeguard against loss or damage. Global Support: If your organization operates internationally or has a distributed workforce, it's essential to choose a vendor that offers global support. This ensures seamless asset recovery regardless of location, with expertise in navigating local regulations and logistics. Flexibility in Service Options: A reliable vendor should offer flexible service options tailored to your specific requirements, whether on-site asset removal, hard drive destruction, or remarketing assistance. Certificates of Data Destruction: Data security is paramount in asset recovery. Ensure that the vendor provides certified data destruction services, verifying the proper sanitization or destruction of all electronic equipment. Reselling or remarketing: Opt for a vendor with expertise in recovering value from used assets. Look for those with a wide buyer network and the ability to maximize returns on your assets. Environmental Reporting: Choose a vendor with transparent environmental reporting to ensure their commitment to sustainable practices. Certifications and Compliance: Prioritize vendors with certifications like R2 or e-Stewards to ensure compliant e waste recycling. Integration with Systems and Inventory: Opt for a vendor that seamlessly integrates with your current systems to share data about your existing IT assets. This will help minimize conflicts and make the process seamless. Automation and Software Capabilities: Look for vendors leveraging automation and software platforms to take efficiency and visibility to the next level. Typical ITAD service providers usually don't offer this. Other than this, assess reliability through past projects, and client references to ensure their expertise meets your needs. Tips to Maximize Recovery Rates Before discussing best practices to maximize recovery rates, it's important to understand how they are calculated. Recovery rates are simply determined by dividing the number of recovered IT assets by the total number of eligible assets. Early communication with employees Proactively communicate with employees during offboarding, requesting the return of devices and providing reminders at each stage. Automating these communications ensures consistent and timely interactions Utilize automated solutions Implement an automated asset recovery solution to streamline processes, from tracking and management to reporting and disposition. Automation improves efficiency, reduces errors, and optimizes recovery. Ensure full visibility and reporting Establish a system that provides comprehensive visibility and reporting on all levels. Robust tracking mechanisms enable monitoring, and identification of bottlenecks, ensure no valuable assets are lost, and help with informed decision-making. IT Asset Recovery Cost Determining the exact pricing for IT asset recovery services can be a complex task. Here are some of the top factors that impact the cost: Hardware Specifications: The type, age, and condition of recovered IT assets influence pricing. Higher-value or specialized equipment may require extra handling. Electronics Recycling: If included, recycling services add value but can affect costs. The scope of recycling offered may vary. Storage Costs: When warehousing your assets with the vendor, consider expenses related to space, security, and maintenance. The volume of Assets: The quantity or volume of assets being recovered can impact pricing, as larger quantities may require additional resources or processing. Additional Services: Factors like data wiping, asset testing, refurbishment, remarketing, compliance records, and asset management software fees may impact pricing. We hope you found this ultimate guide to IT asset recovery helpful in understanding the importance and intricacies of the process. If you're interested in learning more or need further assistance in optimizing IT asset recovery in your organization, we can help. Get in touch with our team to explore how we can help you maximize returns, streamline your recovery efforts, and maximize ROI on retired assets. Continue reading

Suhaib K.

ITAD specialist

Data Erasure

June 24, 2022

Drive compliance by moving your asset erasure logs to the cloud!

The purpose of logging data is to comply with the regulatory structures such as the GDPR. Logging enables the organization to monitor and audit internal processing within any automated processing system being used. Erasure logging is a necessity for any IT based organization and is only a benefit for it. Once an asset has been erased there is next to no chance for the data to be recovered which would leave you nowhere if data that has been destroyed comes back to haunt you due to a breach prior to the erasure process or a faulty erasure process. This is where erasure logging will come in handy to audit and find the root of the problem and then manage it accordingly. Erasure logging is not a new process that IT companies follow to make sure data is secure, but the pandemic has brought new challenges to this process. Remote workers access organization databases through weak security network channels each day and magnify the cybersecurity threat. Data that is deleted on site or remotely is a lability and companies must manage all assets being used. Assets on site go through the erasure process and logging easily but when it comes to remote workers it takes time and vigilance because the data being encrypted at the time of the erasure process is vulnerable. Having a secure cloud would help your ITAD team drive compliance with GDPR and other regulation policies by moving all your erasure logs to it. The erasure logs on cloud would enable them to easily encrypt all data being used at a single point and make them available at any given time. This would not only free up data space on your asset but also set a single point of access and security. The organization's compliance for any internal and external audit would be a few clicks away.

Lydia Adams

ITAD specialist

ITAD

August 26, 2021

Step by step guide for companies to dispose of their EOL IT assets successfully!

When you have children, you plan for their future like a responsible parent and the consequences of not doing so could put your own flesh and blood at risk. For IT companies their assets are the same. IT assets have a life cycle of their own and must be managed accordingly for the company to not be at risk of any security or financial issues. This IT asset life cycle has stages just like a growing individual from birth to senility to the inevitable grave. The stages of IT asset management are planning, procurement, deployment, usage, upgrade, decommission, salvage and disposition. Our focus will be on the retirement and funeral management of these machines that work tirelessly for their organizations. All retirement homes and funerals are costly but that is not the same when it comes to IT assets because if the process is managed correctly that obsolete asset can give you returns or even profit. When cost effectiveness is required the finance department of an organization steps forward to bank, invest and ensure that it is achieved. An effective process for IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) would end up with some return. The minimal steps any finance department should take for End Of Life (EOL) IT assets management: Implement policies for ITAD Security preferably according to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and their own local data protection laws. This ensures that the disposed asset does not become a liability in the future for the organization. Prepare a checklist for functionality tests for all computing equipment present. This sets a grading system that can be used to categorize assets into three different ITAD subgroups: Reuse: this category does not only hold the whole asset into account rather parts of the asset can also be reused by the organization if need be. Like monitors, mice, keyboards, hard-drives, RAM and more. Salvage: should only be conducted with proper erasure software implantation first and then all salvaged parts should be sold off to invest into the replacement equipment. Dispose/recycle: Dispose of all assets using ITAD professionals to rule out all liability issues and breaching of national laws. If done using organizational resources, then the Basel Convention policies should be used to make sure that the e-waste is managed properly. After functionality assessment of the asset, reevaluate the comparative cost effectiveness by placing the asset in all three functional categories. This ensures whether over time the asset would yield more profit if reused, cost of parts salvaged would yield greater profit or disposal/recycling would be most cost effective. If disposal is the outcome of the functionality test, then the finance department should broker a deal with a single ITAD company to deal with all types of data disposals whether it being hardware or software. This will ensure that if any security breach occurs the organization would hold one ITAD company responsible rather than multiple. A long-term solution would be to set up an ITAD department for the organization to make the process of EOL IT asset management even more cost effective and potentially profitable. Learn more about IT Asset Disposition in our comprehensive ITAD Guide

Lydia Adams

ITAD specialist

Technology

August 11, 2021

How to formulate data destruction policies to protect your company?

It is not safe to say that you threw away the hard drive and there is no need to worry about it. In today’s world of cybercrime, viruses, and pandemics you have every cause to be vigilant when it comes to data protection and how to manage the destruction of information that can be a liability to your organization and customers. One way to become a pro data destruction vigilante for your organization is to set up a data destruction policy as tough as superman. You can set up the rules and establish a law in the land but without the enforcement you might as well throw it all in the trash. A separate department in your organization for data destruction and cyber security is enough by itself to deal with all your issues pertaining to your IT waste. Not only will you have a dedicated team to set up cyber security within the workplace but also to make sure that all IT assets being disposed of are managed properly according to procedures. Procedures that are mandatory for everyone in the workplace to follow including yourself, the owner or the top dog. All data waste management procedures should be in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and that goes for companies in the US as well. The GDPR’s article 17 has stated the minimal requirements for an organization to have in place assure that no data is breached after an IT asset has been disposed off. A good procedure for data destruction would be in the following major steps:  Device being erased for reuse: Backup all valuable data that is in use of the organization. Disconnect all links to the organization's network servers. (To evert threat of cyber breach during eraser process if outsourced) Make sure software being used does not occupy too much time to process so that assets are available for reuse as soon as possible. Once erased make sure that the device is functioning correctly (This is important if the device was outsourced to be erased) Device being destroyed and scrapped: Backup all valuable data that is in use of the organization. Format the device completely (use of eraser software is recommended) Pick a certified data destruction company for the process (no liabilities) If possible, retrieve the scrap from the company if the data is extremely valuable. These are just a few steps that can be added from the top to bottom to make sure your data destruction policies are enforced in the correct way. You can only make someone truly feel at ease if you yourself are in a state of tranquility. If your customer or employee’s data has been hijacked due to a failed data destruction process, then all the blame falls on you. If you have the correct insurance plans in place and guarantees from data destruction companies, then all the lability falls on them giving you room to breath and not face a lawsuit. Make sure who you trust the job to in the first place. After all the above methods and policies are applied, you must test all your procedures step by step by ethical hacking to make sure there are no loose ends on your part. This will identify all the weaknesses in your cyber security and data destruction process to make sure no valuable data is leaked.  

Haseeb Jamshed

ITAD specialist

Enterprise Device Lifecycle Management

May 04, 2021

What is Mobile Device Management (MDM) and how does Unduit Wireless help you with it?

Espionage was a major threat to an entire nation during the cold war since any kind of information leak would lead to the enemy gaining a stronger foothold in the race for technological advancement. Although one can debate whether the cold war ever ended, we still see espionage, ransomware, and hacks as a major issue in this era we live in. Almost all developed or developing countries are connected to the World Wide Web or use the internet for transactions, deals, meetings, and so much more via desktop or mobile devices. Businesses and companies are no exception to the use of the internet and mobile devices. In this time of the pandemic, employers are forced to let their employees work from home thus increasing the use of mobile devices. Mobile devices connected to standard internet portals are subject to multiple security risks and can be a gold mine for a hacker if the device contains valuable data of an entire organization. This is where Mobile Device Management (MDM) comes in to stand guard over all devices that contain the organization’s data that is marked as a liability. Unlike antiviruses and firewall protections, MDM works to centralize all devices in a single platform (server) to manage and monitor them actively and passively. This way any device which is being used to access the organization’s data servers or cloud servers can be used safely without any fear of data breach. Immunization against a virus is a top priority but fitness and a healthy lifestyle are also needed to manage prevention or recovery. This same analogy can be used for MDM. Whereas security is top on the list, the health of your device is also the priority. MDM use is like walking into a fenced multipurpose park, you have options of sports, cardio, and even calisthenics. Unduit Wireless is one such unique fenced MDM park. A complete ecosystem of apps that helps you to manage all mobile devices on the go. To make things even better Unduit Wireless is focused mainly on the lifecycle of your devices. Offering services like repairs, buy-backs, and device refresh all the while keeping the organization's data a top priority. Unduit Wireless presents a zero-cost repair program with these services connecting all the dots that concern the unused or damaged devices in your organization. The buy-back service provides the customer with funds gained from assets managed, which in turn can be used for other value-added services that drastically reduce the cost of services provided. Unduit Wireless even provides an enterprise calculator to estimate savings from the lifecycle MDM. Unduit Wireless unlike any other MDM is a one-stop-shop for all your solutions.  

Haseeb Jamshed

ITAD specialist

Tips and Tricks

May 03, 2021

Why is it important to understand the difference between data destruction and data erasure?

The option to leave your cellphone with or without a lock screen pin-code is a thought rarely pondered upon by most smartphone users. It is a no-brainer for any individual since privacy is a top priority when it comes to protecting sensitive data (contacts, payment history, financing apps, location services, and more) that could potentially harm them if it falls into the wrong hands. Apply the same concern to an organization or business, the magnitude of the risk skyrockets. This is not just paranoia but an actual concern. To put things into perspective an entire school district in the United States was a victim of ransomware attacks that lead to all schools being shut down in the year 2020. The data must be either secured actively if it is in use or must be destroyed if the data is no longer of use and is a potential liability for the owner. Data destruction and data erasure processes come into effect when the target data is no longer of use and has become a potential liability for the owner. Like any process both routes to make your data have their pros and cons. Data destruction processes are to either physically destroy the media containing the target data or to render it useless for access. this method guarantees the highest probability of the data being irrecoverable and unaccusable but also renders the device to be incapable of being used again or to be warranted/recycled. Some of the prominent methods are: Melting/hammering/drilling/crushing. Data Shredding is the physical destruction of a target data media in an industrial size grinder that breaks it down into fragments smaller than 2 millimeters or less. It is to be noted that the probability of accessing destroyed data is still there. Drives such as the Solid-State Drives (SSDs) where data is stored so densely that it can remain intact in shredded fragments. Degaussing: is the removal or reduction of the magnetic field of a storage disk or drive. degausser devices render the data on the media completely unrecoverable. Data Erasure is a term interchangeably used with the term data sanitization. This method of eliminating liability data ensures that the target data is destroyed or unrecoverable completely and keeps target data’s media intact. Methods for data sanitization are: Data Erasure: Applies software that writes a random binary script that replaces data on the media completely ensuring that all the data has been replaced at the byte level completely. Cryptographic Erasure: uses public-key cryptography to encrypt all the data on the device and then the key is discarded, effectively erasing all data on the media. Data Masking: Involves creating fake versions of the data, which retain structural properties of the original data. This method ensures the sanitization of data while the media is still in use.   Briefly understanding both methods to secure data that is a liability to the owner the importance of having both options amplify themselves. While physical data destruction has a higher probability of making the data inaccessible it renders the media useless making it only suitable to be trashed or recycled. Physical data destruction can be a costly method depending on which method is being used. Degaussers are expensive devices and if the target data is stored on multiple units, then shredding becomes a tedious process that can also present multiple risk during the process. Data erasure method are more costly than data destruction methods but make up for their cost by making the media usable again. This method also presents itself as a double-edged blade considering the data erasure methods are 100% effective but can only be applied to devices that are in working condition and that are compatible with the software being used. The decision to use which method depends mainly on what is to be done with the media of the target data. To destroy or not to destroy that is the final question.  

Haseeb Jamshed

ITAD specialist

Enterprise Device Lifecycle Management

December 08, 2020

Recycling your old cell phone, here

Let’s do our part and save the planet!   Electronic waste or E-waste is the fastest growing and most problematic waste stream in the world currently and not surprisingly with society’s reliance on their cell phone, these devices continue to be the leading contributor to the overall problem.   It’s safe to say in this day and age most of us own a personal smartphone or our employer issues a device to us.  We can make a difference and stop the pollution by recycling our unused smartphones instead of carelessly discarding them.   Thanks to innovative technologies and improved recycling processes up to 80% of materials used in smartphones can be recycled and reused.  When we recycle, we can all play a part in keeping our planet and environment healthy!   Environmental Conservation   Smartphones contain hazardous materials such as lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium.  When these materials are thrown into a traditional trash stream they end up in our landfills.  These toxic materials slowly end up contaminating our soil and water resources.  With proper recycling these materials are reused without polluting the environment.   Energy Savings   Just one recycled cell phone saves enough energy to charge a laptop for a week’s worth of use.  A record 150M+ cell phones are thrown away annually, if recycled they could produce enough energy to power over 30,000 homes per year.    Save the resources of our planet   Cell phones are made of valuable materials that are increasingly becoming scarce but can be recovered when recycled.  From 1 million recycled cell phones we can recover 40,000 pounds of copper, 870 pounds of silver and 85 pounds of gold.  This dramatically reduces our reliance on mining the precious resources our planet offers.

Claire Whitman

ITAD specialist

Enterprise Device Lifecycle Management

August 11, 2019

AppleCare+ Could Be Costing Your Enterprise Millions of Wasted Dollars

Organizations with thousands or tens of thousands of iPhones and iPads need to keep these devices working as mobility has become a driving force behind productivity.  When these tools break, non-asset related costs begin to pile up. Consider the impact on the employee who relies on the device, helpdesk personnel who must address the issue, and Procurement and AP departments who are required to process paperwork and payment.  While the premise of AppleCare+ insurance is, on the surface, a sound and logical choice, it can represent the largest financial and operational efficiency leaks in your organization's mobility strategy. What is the actual cost of AppleCare+?  The upfront cost varies from $49 to $199 depending upon the type of device, and the per-incident 'deductible' costs vary from $29 to $99 by the type of damage.  For an easy example, let's use the iPhone XR, $149 upfront cost for AppleCare+, then $29 per incident of screen damage. Now, consider a fleet of 10,000 devices that experience 10% breakage each year.  With our assumptions set, we can do the math: Upfront cost: $149 x 10,000 devices = $1,490,000 Repairs over two years: $29 x 10,000 devices x 20% = $58,000 Total Spend: $1,548,000 That is a significant spend.  Why do organizations do it? AppleCare+ provides multiple methods to report and submit broken devices and receive a refurbished device in its place.  Apple is a trusted brand that can minimize concerns around data security, and service is expected to be consistent nationally. It just makes sense as no alternative can tick the boxes.  Further, employees cannot be allowed to take their devices just anywhere as costs, security, reliability are all over the map.   However, there IS an alternative, and for most a better option. Unduit Wireless is a reliable alternative to AppleCare+ on several fronts.  By way of the multi-admin Cloud-Based Platform, repair orders can be made by Support Staff to recover and repair devices from any employee anywhere in the country in under 60 seconds.  The program supports overnight loaner or hot spare replacement devices. A fully documented and auditable chain of custody and data sanitization certificates ensure security compliance.  Moreover, all information about all lifecycle actions on every impacted device is readily available from one interface. The "single pane of glass" for all repairs across an unlimited number of locations and some impressive staff efficiency benefits are only part of it.  The other part is the cost. No upfront or subscription cost to implement the Platform. The estimated cost of repairs, over two years comes in at a fraction of your AppleCare+ spend, even if we use a high average repair cost estimation: Repairs over two years with Unduit Wireless: $300 x 10,000 devices x 20% = $500,000, less than 1/3 of the $1,548,000 cost with AppleCare+.   AppleCare+, for a single user and device, is a good value.  However, when applying the model to an Enterprise fleet of devices, the costs of AppleCare+ are extraordinary and unnecessary.  Unduit Wireless exceeds operational, efficiency, and security goals of any organization for 60% less than the cost of AppleCare+.  And if you have already taken the AppleCare+ plunge, know that Apple will refund your pre-paid premium on a pro-rated basis.

Gregory Lowes

ITAD specialist

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