Spring Clean Your Data Center

It’s finally spring, which means it may be time to think about cleaning and upgrading your office equipment. It’s important to consider ITAD, or information technology asset disposition, as part of your spring cleaning agenda. ITAD can help keep your tech in tip-top shape and ensure the safe disposal of old or outdated assets. It can also help protect your data when retiring tech. Here’s what to know about cleaning your data center and why it’s important to develop an ITAD plan this spring.

Decommissioning Old Devices and Technology

When decommissioning your data center or any other tech equipment, it can be helpful to make a checklist to ensure that you follow the right steps for properly disposing of your assets. The following data center decommissioning checklist by Teksetra can help you get started.

• Draft a statement of work: As a first step, you should outline a plan for your decommissioning project. Set goals and determine your expected outcomes. You might also use this as an opportunity to set forth a timeline and budget for your project.
• Take inventory: Next, you should complete an inventory of your data center, taking note of the assets you currently have and what you will need to replace as part of your decommissioning plan. Consider the final destination for your retired assets and, if possible, perform IT asset recovery.
• Map out your dependencies: When it comes to data, dependency mapping is a must. Before decommissioning your old tech, it’s important to map the dependencies in your data center so that you can more easily phase things out and prevent issues from arising.
• Create an implementation plan: After you’ve completed the prior steps, you can get started designing an implementation plan for your project.
• List your required tools: At this point, it’s a good idea to make a list of the tools you will need to decommission your data center.
• Consider equipment removal and data sanitization: This is one of the most important steps in the decommissioning process. Before removing your equipment, it’s crucial that you sanitize your data to prevent sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands.
• Get your equipment ready to go: Once you’ve removed your equipment, it’s time to get it packed up and ready to be shipped out. Be sure to separate the equipment bound for the trash and the assets to be recycled or refurbished.
• Dispose of your assets: Upon completing the prior steps, you can finally get rid of your old equipment. Make a careful record of each asset that was disposed of.

Why Cleansing and Decommissioning Old Devices Promotes Greater Data Security

Proper cleaning and sanitization of decommissioned tech are essential to protecting your data. By managing your e-waste, you’re not just ensuring an environmentally-friendly disposal process, you’re also guarding your assets against unauthorized access. Simply tossing your old tech into a landfill can put you at an increased risk of a data breach. This is why it’s important to wipe your data from unused equipment, erasing all digital traces from your devices.

How an ITAD Plan Can Benefit Your Business

Developing a solid ITAD plan can help your data center cleaning process run much smoother. It can also be useful when setting up a new data center. Having an ITAD plan in place is critical to ensuring the proper disposal of your assets, as you’ll be less likely to simply rush through the process and get rid of your tech by any means necessary. You can also decide who should be responsible for what, avoid disorganization, and set clear guidelines from the start. Taking the time to create a detailed ITAD plan can increase the likelihood that you’ll actually follow through on your spring cleaning goals.

In addition, budgeting for your data center cleaning can give you a better idea of what you’ll be spending and how you can best prepare for the upcoming changes. Rather than going into the process blind, you can get things ready beforehand to make sure that everything goes according to plan. You might even consider partnering with an ITAD provider for additional help with your data center cleaning. An ITAD provider can provide expert guidance on how to dispose of your assets and implement new equipment.

See How Teksetra Can Help!

Spring cleaning is the perfect time to think about cleaning your data center and decommissioning old tech. However, actually disposing of your assets is easier said than done, and it can be difficult to manage the entire process internally, which is why many businesses turn to third-party providers for help.

Teksetra offers ITAD and e-waste management solutions to help companies sanitize, remarket, and recycle their old assets. The platform also provides project services to help you plan your decommissioning process. Reach out today to learn more about Teksetra’s ITAD services and how we can help you meet your e-waste management goals!