Problems Faced With Excess IT Hardware Due To Redundancies
We are currently experiencing some testing economic times. Now more than ever, businesses are unfortunately having to consider making redundancies across their organisation, regardless of the industry they are in or the reputation that they hold. In such uncertain times, it has been proven that no business is completely safe. Mass redundancies often lead to many businesses generating a surplus of IT equipment that you suddenly have to be responsible for. Not only is it likely that the equipment holds a lot of value but the contents of the equipment still contains valuable company data, that could cause countless problems if it were to fall into the wrong hands. We have therefore taken a look at some of the problems faced by many businesses as a result of excess IT hardware being left in the workplace.
Lost Money
It’s no secret that IT equipment isn’t cheap, and if you’ve got a lot of it lying around then that’s a lot of money that could be used elsewhere in the business. It's never been more important to utilise your assets, so having a lot of cash tied up in old, unused IT hardware is probably not a great idea. From a security standpoint alone, having a large amount of valuable IT equipment stored on-site could pose a multitude of risks. Not to mention that the dynamic nature of the technology market, resale prices can quickly depreciate as new models are released. Therefore, the sooner you sell on your equipment, the better chance you have at maintaining as close to your initial investment as possible. It is said that IT equipment depreciates at 3.5% per month so if you’re looking to recover your initial costs, or even raise a bit of capital, stockpiling old hardware is best avoided.
Saving Space
Tower PCs, Macs, monitors are not small and whether you’ve got them sprawled out across unused desks or stored away in a cupboard somewhere, they’re likely taking up quite a bit of storage space. Not only could this space be better utilised for more productive uses but it’s likely that a member of the team is spending time out of their day managing all this. Many businesses are always looking for new ways to save time and improve productivity levels and worrying about unused IT hardware should not be one of them. This time would be much better spent focusing on tasks that will benefit the company as a whole. Computer equipment that is hidden away in a stock room could also be easily forgotten about and it may become unclear when it comes to ordering new equipment what you do and don’t need. Potentially doubling up on the same items is a very real possibility, one that would be best avoided by cramming all of your old equipment into a store cupboard or stock room.
Disposal
Why can’t you just throw them away? Well, there’s a lot of good reasons that you can’t just throw them in the bin. Electronic waste is currently the fastest growing waste stream in the UK and is estimated to add up to around two million tonnes per year. You may not think it but your old computer hardware actually contains many toxic chemicals such as mercury, lead, lithium, arsenic and a wide variety of other harmful and dangerous substances. When dumped in a landfill, these chemicals can contaminate the ground, water and air leaving a lasting impact on the environment as well as human health. When you consider the bulk amounts of electronic waste that are cast aside by businesses every year, not only when making redundancies but when upgrading their systems and other electronic equipment, then you can imagine the impact that these harmful substances can have on the environment and our health. As well as harmful chemicals, IT hardware contains many precious materials too. Aluminium from casings, copper from wiring and even gold from contact points can actually be recovered. While this is obviously great from a monetary standpoint, it also reduces the need to harvest new raw materials from the finite supply of resources buried inside our beloved planet Earth.
Data Security
Not only is destroying old data very tedious work, but it is also a massive security obligation for whoever the duty falls to. Simply clicking “delete” or reformatting a hard drive is often nowhere near enough. But by disposing of these assets as soon as possible, you’re reducing the risk of data loss which could ultimately lead to a security breach. Storing your devices for prolonged periods of time only opens you up to a greater risk but if you don’t have the resources or the know-how in your company to securely destroy all data, it is crucial that you find someone who can.
Choosing a reliable and trusted partner that is not only capable of recycling your hardware but is also capable of securely disposing of and destroying data can be a daunting task. It is vital that you find someone that you can trust with such sensitive information.
At MacRefresh, we use a combination of industry-leading software that makes it impossible to perform any form of data recovery. What sets us apart from other companies is that we don’t use any middlemen, minimising the chain of custody. Your hardware is collected by our team and then transported to our secure facility where our highly-trained technicians will guarantee all data is wiped. We can also perform a full stock audit of your computer assets, allowing you to decide what is needed and what is not. If, however, there are some complications we will even go as far as to physically shred or drill the hard drive to ensure that your data does not end up in the wrong hands.
