ITAK Volume 3 Issue 5

Official publication of International Association of IT Asset Managers, Inc. 

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President's Letter  By: Barbara Rembiesa, President of IAITAM Federal legislation, green solutions, software harvesting, harmful chemicals, the list goes on as to the items that your organization needs to be concerned with when properly disposing of your IT equipment.  But with all the green talk and fear of improper disposal of IT assets, have we placed too much importance on the act of disposal instead of the underlying process?  Have organizations built a wall around IT Asset Disposal (ITAD) that they fail to consider that it’s not just the act of tossing the hardware out and the security liability. There should be a process wrapped around the end of life for your IT assets so that by adhering to the goals of the organization, the liabilities are minimized before the item is marked for disposal. So many organizations get bogged down in these details though that they forget about the supporting processes and organizational goals when considering their disposal options.

Cover Story Do the "E-Scrap" - A New IT Solution: Finding the Right Processor for End-of-Life Equipment  By: Kim Holmes, Executive Editor & Managing Partner of Resource Recycling For each piece of IT equipment purchased, down the road, all of these items will need to be managed at the end of their useful life.  A dozen states have already passed legislation, creating statewide recovery systems for discarded electronics, and three more are likely to approve legislation before this year is done (See Table 1).  Few of these states, however, with the exception of California and West Virginia, include large-scale generators of equipment in these systems.  Many of these programs were written to address the problem of residentially-generated electronics.  So what are businesses, institutions and organizations to do?  It is environmentally irresponsible to send large volumes of monitors to the landfill and it is risky to throw out computers and servers that contain vital business information.  Recycling IT equipment is the likely solution for businesses that are concerned with these two aspects.  The next question then concerns how one finds a processor of electronic equipment that will meet your organization’s needs and goals?

Feature Article ITAD Primer - Beyond the Basics: 6 Critical Requirements for Selecting the Right ITAD Provider  By: Chip Slack, Chairman and CEO of Intechra, LLC Each retired IT asset is a potential pitfall of privacy and environmental liability. Selecting the right IT asset disposition (ITAD) provider is critical for both compliance and value for the service delivered. The ITAD industry is highly fractured. Most large cities have at least one local company claiming to be an ITAD provider. Large regional and national ITAD providers have formed in recent years to meet the growing demand from companies that want a higher level of service and accountability. Feature Article ITAD - Don’t Forget the Process - Considerations for Developing an IT Disposal Policy  By: Howard G. Hastings, Senior Principle Product Manager for CA, Inc. Disposal of an IT asset is the last set of activities in the lifecycle; a process area for which few give much thought. I mean, what is there to ponder? The IT asset in question is no longer needed by your organization – so get rid of it! Ah, but the adage “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” certainly applies. Just because a piece of technology has outlived its usefulness for your internal customers doesn’t mean the asset has no value, regardless of age or operational condition. And, not every IT asset being returned is owned by your organization, such as leased equipment. Printer Consolidation = Dollars - Implementing and Managing a Printer Asset Management Program (While Preserving Your Sanity)    By:  Taylor Herschleb, IT Analyst II for Consumers Energy One business area frequently outsourced by companies is the printer asset management program.  Perhaps it’s because the prospect of managing printers seems too overwhelming.  Or maybe it’s because the thought of wresting printers from the clutches of employees who’ve grown attached to them and don’t want to give them up is about as appealing as a root canal. Whatever the reason, many companies hand over the management of their printers to document management vendors.  This trend extends beyond printers to document output devices in general: copiers, scanners, fax machines as well as the new “all bells and whistles” multi-function printers (MFPs).  As the person responsible for this function at Consumers Energy, I’d like to share the experiences we’ve had in planning, implementing and managing output devices.  Bottom line, implementing a printer asset management program is not difficult for IT asset management departments to undertake.   Erasure Legislation (Part 1 of 2) -  Newer Security Standards for Hard Drive Security - NIST 800-99 vs. DoD 5220  By:  Brooks Hoffman, VP of Finance & Operations for LifeSpan Technology Recycling Inc. Since 1995, the Information Technology and electronics recycling industries have embraced parts of a U.S. Department of Defense document created as part of the “National Industrial Security Program”.  This document, entitled “DoD 5220.22.M”, defines a broad range of I.T. security requirements, methods, and procedures - ranging from facility security, chain of custody, storage and retention, and methods of data destruction.  More Accountability - Less Risk - ITAM Drives ITAD Value  By:  Robert Houghton, President of Redemtech, Inc. It is common to think of IT asset disposition (ITAD) as a straightforward exercise in reverse logistics, data eradication, surplus resale, and the legal disposal of electronic scrap.  Such is the prevailing state of the art, and we could rest easy if data breaches were rare, if IT budgets were fat, and if those legal disposal practices measured up to our organizations’ green aspirations and standards for social responsibility.  But the needs of most modern businesses have evolved beyond the capabilities of the average asset disposal program.  Companies are demanding more accountability and less risk, better financial outcomes, and demonstrably more sustainable results. If conventional asset disposal solutions fall short, fortunately the nexus between asset management and asset disposal creates numerous opportunities to provide the enterprise better accountability, and both greater value and sustainability.  This Months Column Tight Budgets: Opportunities to Revisit the Past  By:  Jenny Schuchert, VP of Sales and Marketing for Animus Solutions, Inc. With the economy taking a downturn, many companies have either frozen budgets or reduced them for 2008.  This change forces us to re-examine our plans, projects and priorities, realigning to financial goals. For the management of IT assets, a typical reaction would be to delay purchases, reduce service levels, and lengthen the lifecycle of some assets.   Instead of relying on reactive restrictions, consider using this change in direction as an opportunity to re-examine existing technology for untapped value.  Now might be the perfect time to complete a delayed but budgeted implementation, share data across systems or build additional process automation into existing systems.  Even rejected projects should be reviewed to see if the savings potential estimated for that project puts the project back on the list.   Remember, we still have budget, but have to make hard choices on where to spend it.