Four Things You Need to Know About Asset Recovery

Many organizations large and small face the demands of technology innovation without understanding the importance of asset recovery in the update process. With constant pressure on businesses to remain efficient through the updating of their IT assets, the place of IT asset recovery is often overlooked. However, when companies don’t understand the important role asset recovery plays in keeping organizations operational, they have plenty to lose. Asset recovery allows organizations to reclaim the value of their used and/or excess hardware and secure important data, while keeping up with the changing demands of IT innovation. Here are four things you need to know about asset recovery and how it will assist in improving your organization’s finances, operation, and sense of social responsibility.

1. Data safekeeping

   It is not uncommon for organizations to go through the IT asset refresh cycle without disposing of their old equipment. The accumulation of old, unused hardware is often either stored somewhere on the premises of the organization or shipped for storage at a warehouse. This is one of the greatest missed opportunities for organizations who are happy to take old equipment out of commission and allow it to simply collect dust, out of sight and out of mind. However, IT asset recovery helps you to leverage the value of your retired equipment, while ensuring old equipment does not become a liability.

   There are two sides to the old stored equipment story. The first is lost opportunity to recoup some of the value of the old equipment, and the second is security. When you store your old data drives, you are at risk of stored data being accessed by cyber criminals. Even when using sanitization technology, you are not guaranteed the drive will be properly wiped. Working with an asset recovery company will ensure your hardware is properly wiped clean, that all reusable equipment and parts are safely distributed, and useless parts are disposed of properly.

2. Funding your budget

   Asset recovery not only assists in streamlining your hardware management, but should also help fund your budget. When managed properly, you can create funds that will support your future IT investments. This will help manage the cost of new inventory the next time around.

   This is often hard to swallow for budget-conscious businesses that are facing the cost of an upgrade. However, there are many revenue benefits of asset recovery. Successful asset recovery has a positive impact on your profit and loss by helping create an often-unexpected supplementary revenue stream. When properly managed, companies that employ an effective asset recovery policy can often depend on the generated funds as part of their organizational financial planning. A well-versed asset recovery expert will help you recover maximum value from your old, unused IT equipment.

3. The environment

   The world demands ethical practices from organizations of all sizes and industries. Asset recovery is an environmentally friendly process that contributes to the circular economy. It often secures second lives for used equipment and can also make use of high demand components from equipment that is no longer useable as a whole. When components are harvested, they can become supplies for the secondary market, which supports the sustainability of hardware manufacturing.

   Companies such as Dell are firm supporters of sustainability in the industry meeting its goal to recover two billion pounds of used electronics from consumer and enterprise hardware. However, despite such efforts, there is still a third of industry leaders that have not embraced industry environmental sustainability. As well, major data centers at companies such as Google and Microsoft are working to improve liquid cooling technologies as a green IT strategy

   Every organization can play their part by aligning to circular economy principles. One of the simplest and most beneficial principles is reusing end-of-life products and extending the life of IT equipment through asset recovery. This addresses e-waste, ensuring that old equipment does not end up in landfills. Your asset recovery efforts support the circular economy while reducing toxic e-waste.

   There are also many charitable opportunities available. This allows you to donate your unused IT assets and have them assist everything from children to non-profit organizations in need of IT equipment.

4. Intelligent management

   When you invest time and money into new hardware, intelligent management helps your organization benefit from the repurposing of equipment when it becomes outdated. With every update your organization undertakes, thought should be given to the new equipment and how to keep it sustainable from an operational, financial, and environmental perspective. This means going beyond the basics of asset recovery and using it as a long-term strategy, so you are constantly recouping the value from your IT assets.

   Careful thought can be given to ways to avoid simply storing old assets and take a proactive approach that helps your organization not only keep up with technological advances, but also have a plan that allows you to effectively improve workflows, ensure accurate and safe record keeping, enhance the security of your data for your own intellectual property and the information of your clients, and maintain competency in managing IT assets intelligently. This includes all aspects of the process, from well thought out upgrade plans that will remain relevant longer to using environmentally friendly and safe procedures in the disposition of assets.

   If you would like more information on asset recovery and data security, click here to contact the eCycle team.