In 2022 IDC reported shipments from Q4 2021 to Q3 2022 of almost 30 million servers and storage worldwide.1 2 That’s a lot of devices. Now consider an average 3-5 year refresh cycle for the datacenter – that equates to a considerable amount of ongoing electronic disposal. It’s not surprising that e-waste (electronics that are nearing the end of their useful life) is a growing global issue with high potential for public health and environmental concerns.3
Legislation on e-waste varies across the globe, but more and more countries (and states in the United States) have recycling laws for electronics, and we can expect to see more to come. In addition, organizations must employ an enterprise-grade destruction process to destroy personal data or the media devices that retain it to remain legally compliant. Increasing legal regulations on data security make the compliance process more difficult. So, what can data centers do to better manage IT disposition?
IBM’s Asset Recovery and Disposition offering – available today in the US, Canada, UK, Germany and Switzerland - provides an environmentally and economically sound alternative as an end-to-end sustainability solution that enables a circular economy for de-installed assets, whether you want to resell them or recycle them. IBM can help you to prepare your assets, remove equipment, assess actual value, and then either resell or dispose of your assets in compliance with both GDPR and ISO 14001. That sounds a lot to me like it pays to be sustainable! Let’s look at the details.
Prepare equipment for secure shipment
When organizations are enabling a circular economy for their deinstalled IT assets, the first concern is to manage the security risk around the data that was housed in those assets. IBM Technology Lifecycle Services offers certified data sanitization to remove data in a security-rich environment.
Before transportation, IBM will provide data sanitization services for all products at the customer location. IBM’s data sanitization services meet the requirements of a clear or non-destructive purge contained in the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Guidelines for Media Sanitization, NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 1.
Remove equipment
IBM and IBM suppliers will package and palletize the assets in preparation for their disposition. They will then follow secure processes to ensure safe and effective transportation to asset recovery facilities.
Asset recovery reporting with resale value
Assets will then be tested and assessed for their marketable resale value. IBM will also provide a report which includes weight data information on either the resold or recycled items which organizations can use in their sustainability metrics and reporting.
Potential for service credits
IBM will calculate the value of provided services and discount it from the marketable resale value of the equipment. The remaining funds, if any, will be available as a service credit for clients for 6 months, to be used for new IBM Technology Lifecycle Services.
Conclusion
Simple, sustainable, and economic. What more could you ask for?
1 IDC Quarterly Enterprise Storage Systems Tracker, 2022Q3
2 IDC Quarterly Server Tracker, 2022Q3
3 The Global E-waste Monitor 2020
4 IBM: Enabling Secure IT Asset Recycling, Refurbishment, and Resale Through Global Asset Recovery Services, August 2022, IDC #US49585122
5 IBM 2022 ESG report
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