* What to do about old computers piling up around the office
Ah, the start of a new year. Out with the old, in with the new. Easier said than done, especially if “the old” refers to old computers piling up around the office. What can you do about them?
Every day I walk past that heaping pile of electronics in the corner of my office and cringe. It used to be my desktop computer; now it’s an ad hoc table to stack piles of magazines on. It hasn’t been used in years, and probably never will be used again. One of these days I vow to haul it to a recycling center.
Companies with hundreds or thousands of computers can’t let the old ones pile up. For one thing, they are considered an environmental hazard because of the lead and mercury in the chassis. In some states, it’s illegal to store old computers without a license because of the hazards. Then, too, unless the hard disks have been removed or rendered unreadable, the old PCs present a data security issue. Would you want to be the one responsible for the CFO’s old PC being left in a dark storeroom where unauthorized people can access it?
If you can’t store them indefinitely, you have three other choices for disposition of old computers: redeploy them within the organization, discard them via a recycling service, or resell or donate them to someone else.
Redeployment is still a favorite tactic, especially in cash-strapped companies and nonprofit organizations (NPO). When someone on the top of the org chart gets a new computer, someone down below gets the hand-me-down. This tactic makes it possible to eek out an extra year or two of service from the device, although studies show the annual support costs go up in proportion to the age of the computer. The trickle down policy might not be much of a money saver.
Assuming there’s sufficient life left in the hand-me-downs, some companies prefer to resell them to recover a few dollars or get a little tax write-off by donating them to an NPO like the United Way. For example, the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast is delighted to accept corporate computer cast-offs. If donation is the way you want to go, I suggest contacting the United Way or other NPOs in your area. Or, Dell will take your gently used equipment donations for the National Christina Foundation, an NPO that serves people with disabilities, students at risk and economically disadvantaged persons.
If you prefer to try and recover a little cash from your computers, there are companies that can help you resell them. For instance, the Dell Value Recovery Service is one way to have someone else sell your worthwhile computer assets and return the proceeds to you. (If Dell determines there’s no value in the computers, it will recycle them according to EPA guidelines.)
Chances are you aren’t going to get much cash for the old computers. In fact, it’s more likely that you’ll have to pay for a service to take them away to recycle and dispose of them properly. You’d better budget for this. Both IBM and HP, among numerous other companies, offer computer disposal services that will wipe the disks clean, remove the hazardous components and recycle as much of the other materials as possible.
One way to avoid most of the hassles of retiring your equipment is never to own the computers in the first place. Lease them. Then all you need worry about is removing your data before handing over the old devices for some other company to worry about.
Since it is the start of the new year, why not make a resolution to plan ahead for your asset management and disposition? Jim O’Grady of HP’s Financial Services group recommends the following best practices:
* Plan for end of use. Develop a plan and budget, sponsored by a corporate officer, to manage IT asset end of life. Do it well ahead of when you will actually need to remove assets from service.
* Asset tracking. Implement an asset tracking solution that can tell you where assets are, what type of data is on them, the type of contract and warranty, remaining book value, date of decommission, and confirmation of data erasure and/or disposal.
* Asset optimization. Prepare a total cost of ownership analysis, incorporating service, maintenance and contractual components. Consider leasing as part of your overall IT investment protection strategy.
* Asset disposition outsourcing. Engage an asset-recovery partner that has a brand name and reputation for trust and integrity. Share the risk and conserve valuable resources for your core business.
* Data security. Destroy, clear or sanitize data as you decommission IT assets and before they leave your control. Use your outsource partner as the final validation point for data security.
