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.
