4 Questions to Ask Your Technology Disposal Company

When you’re ready to dispose of your old technology assets, do so with the support and guidance of people whose job it is to stay on top of the ever-evolving regulatory and security requirements: a certified compliant and dependable technology disposal company.

4 Things You Need to Know About Your Technology Disposal Company

We’ve outlined a few questions to ask your technology disposal company:

1. Are they certified for data destruction and environmental compliance?

With so many stories about data breaches and information leaks dominating the news over the last few years, most organizations are a little spooked about how they’re disposing of their used technology assets.

You may be vulnerable to legal ramifications if you don’t dispose of your data and drive assets properly. If your sensitive data leaks, you’ll have to answer to the law and your customers. Financial penalties can be quite harsh, and a tarnished reputation can have long-term ramifications.

Environmental compliance laws have become far more strict over the last decade, and getting hit with environmental penalties is a bad “look” for any organization. Now more than ever, it’s important to vet a technology asset disposal company to ensure they have industry certifications for both security and environmental compliance.

2. Do they understand the resale market?

Your technology asset disposal company should know the resale market inside and out in order for your organization to get the best return on the equipment it’s retiring.

PCs, laptops, and servers that are less than three to four years old retain value, even if they’re no longer of use to your company. If you’re ready to dispose of your technology assets, why not recover that value? Remarketing your technology assets is an opportunity to recoup some of the initial investment or cover some or all of the disposal costs.

Your technology asset disposal company should understand price trends on the resale market and help your organization plan ahead and determine when your assets will turn from revenue generators to cost creators. They should help you plan to refresh your technology cycles to ensure that you get the optimum value on your old equipment.

3. How do they document data destruction and disposal?

Find out from any potential provider how they document their full process. There are too many factors along the way during the disposal process that could find your organization liable for mistakes made by your provider.

Disposing of data can have security, financial, and software asset management implications. Proper documentation can shield your company from financial and legal penalties. You should be provided with a Certificate of Data Destruction and a detailed inventory report, as well as a report to show the environmental impact that your responsible recycling is having.

4. Can they serve all of your locations?

Technology asset disposal can be a pretty complicated matter. From drive sanitization to environmental compliance, there are numerous reasons to rely on a proven and trusted technology disposal company.

Don’t forget to ask about logistics. Your vendor has to have experience that allows them to serve all of your sites and the logistical capability to properly handle all of your assets.

If you have multiple locations, make sure you hire a disposal company that can handle your work load and that understands the different regulations that might be in play in each of your locations.