Data Destruction and Decommissioning
Data center workloads have increasingly shifted to co-location facilities as an alternative to privately-owned on-site servers or data centers. Based on results, this trend will continue, mainly because of reduced downtime and the growing need to reduce IT infrastructure expenses, physical security, and high-power requirements.
Data Center operators are great when it comes to technical and maintenance services. Typically, a proposal will include an option for hands-on or remote hands services, along with facilities, knowledgeable IT staff, and capable engineers maintaining the systems. These technicians provide services such as installations, on-site maintenance, outage control, and incident resolution.
These are all necessary services to securely protect your company’s business continuity, proprietary data, client data, and brand reputation.
However, not all on-site techs are qualified to handle IT asset disposition.
Knowing that the data center on-site support team will take care of your immediate and everyday needs can put you at ease and allow your IT staff to spend their time on more meaningful projects in the office. But, from time to time, hardware can fail, or a refresh is needed. In that moment when the hardware is removed from a server rack, data is at risk, especially if that hardware ends up in a bin or box that is not secured.
Most on-site techs know the ins and outs of routine maintenance of equipment with visual inspections, stress testing, hardware performance reports, and replacing damaged or worn-out components. But are they knowledgeable in handling the disposition of your hardware when it reaches the end of life?
About IT Asset Disposition 
IT Asset Disposition, ITAD is the safe practice of disposing of old, damaged, or no longer needed IT equipment and hardware. Processes include wiping data for reuse, physical drive destruction, and recycling.
As an organization runs, the need for additional data storage grows over time, and so does the need for server capacity. Purchasing newer, larger capacity and faster drives has become essential to keep up with demand. With constant upgrades in technology, many businesses are enticed to dispose of older equipment, even if it is still usable. But simply throwing these items away is a considerable security risk, a potential loss of value, and illegal.
With laws in place to protect our environment, electronic equipment is required to be recycled appropriately. Organizations such as e-Stewards and R2 exist to ensure the recycling of computers
and networking equipment is handled securely by ITAD providers so that assets do not end up in landfills. An ITAD provider will document destruction and recycling with appropriate certificates.
When done by a certified ITAD service provider, IT asset disposition will protect your brand by mitigating the risks associated with disposition, providing experienced resources, securely wiping or destroying your data, and for the financial-minded, remarketing to recover all the asset’s residual value.
Disposition Security and Compliance
Data security is a primary concern for data center lessors; co-location facility managers must provide strict physical security protocols that restrict access to the premises. While these
restrictions are in place for security reasons, they may also create a barrier for company employees to gain access to the facility and servers in order to fulfill the specific requirements for data
destruction, data security, environmental compliance, and recycling.
Working with a trusted ITAD partner to help mitigate risk and have the appropriate clearance credentials can make the process go smoothly, quickly, and securely. On-site ITAD technicians are
vetted and approved prior to providing services at any facilities.
Sipi Asset Recovery Solutions 
Sipi Asset Recovery will work with you to create a comprehensive disposition plan, considering your needs for security, value recovery, environmental stewardship, and regulatory compliance. On-site data wiping, hard drive crushing, and shredding are three secure ways to destroy data-bearing devices before leaving the security of your data center. Our licensed and trained ITAD technicians will provide scheduled on-site wiping or physical destruction services, provide equipment, and oversee the transport of wiped or destroyed assets to one of our certified processing facilities for final processing. Our customer service team will be your guide through the process, available to answer any questions.
Risk mitigation starts the moment we take custody of your assets and doesn’t stop until you receive a certificate of data destruction or certificate of recycling through our on-line customer portal.
While we will not entirely take the place of your data center technician, we provide resources to complement their services and take those services one step further to disposition.
Our decades of hands-on experience have prepared our team for any unique situation. In addition, we work closely with our clients to ensure data center projects proceed smoothly and efficiently.
| On-site services: • Consultation and review of enterprise data security protocols • Recommendations for maximized value recovery • Licensed and trained IT technicians • Physical Inventory • Data erasure Destruction via crush, shred or degauss • On-site temporary logs and audit reports •Transportation logistics, including secure chain-of-custody |
Data center decommissioning services: • Pre-service assessment of the building, grid, and rack locations • Verify physical inventory against client list • Crushing equipment shipped directly to service location • Data erasure, including loose drives • Destruction of assets according to agreement • Cable pulling • Un-racking |
| • Removal and packing/palletizing • Redeployment / Relocation • Transportation – Chain-of-Custody • Remarketing to obtain best fair market value through reliable sources • Recycling to e-Stewards and R2 standards • Reporting – on-line customer portal for tracking asset progress and documentation, including certificates. |
Having a team of IT technicians take on the maintenance, data security, and disposition of data-bearing assets will provide you with the peace of mind you deserve.
Contact our On-site Services Team to discuss your next on-site data destruction project.
