The Importance of Disposal Tags

“Out with the old — in with the new.”

That simple phrase describes the majority of IT work. After all, IT specialists spend a large chunk of their time overseeing a continuous series of equipment upgrades.

And honestly, that’s pretty incredible when you consider that it means IT workers are watching their industry evolve in real time.

However, it also comes with a big responsibility: ensuring that outdated equipment is disposed of properly. This process is called IT asset disposition (ITAD).

ITAD is a big deal for organizations, with over 100 corporate regulations currently dictating how equipment should be properly retired.

As you can imagine, ITAD comes with its fair share of challenges. Fortunately, there are a growing number of solutions out there to help companies protect themselves and their employees.

Below, we’ll examine one of the most critical tools available to help ensure proper ITAD: disposal tags.

The Challenges of IT Asset Disposition (ITAD)

IT professionals often spend significant time chasing down missing assets. On average, an asset manager might spend three hours per project chasing down unaccounted-for equipment.

Furthermore, an asset manager can spend even more time on an IT asset disposition project if they encounter a problem locating equipment.

The most common (and avoidable) reason behind missing or hard-to-find equipment is relying solely on serial numbers to track it.

Most companies tracking retired equipment solely by serial numbers cannot account for nearly 25% of their disposed inventory.

Time wasted searching for missing assets can quickly add up, resulting in massive labor and opportunity costs for your business. Even worse, tracking equipment using serial numbers alone can break the chain of custody. This can result in significant legal and financial repercussions for your company.

Security is the name of the game when it comes to proper ITAD. That’s why companies specializing in asset disposal rely on disposal tags, not serial numbers, to track equipment.

Why ITAD Vendors Use Disposal Tags to Maintain Security

ITAD companies specialize in disposing of expired equipment securely. These firms know that serial numbers are unreliable for tracking expired equipment. That’s why ITAD companies always barcode equipment when it arrives at their facility.

But while this practice works well for the ITAD vendor, it does little for you and your business.

A chain of custody needs to be established before assets leave your possession, not after you’ve handed them over to an ITAD vendor. The easiest way to accomplish this is to have your team label expired equipment with disposal tags.

The Benefits of Disposal Tags for Your Business

Some IT leaders may believe disposal tags are not a necessity. However, these perceived reasons for bypassing disposal tag protocol don’t ring true.
Here’s why:

• Disposal tags eliminate the challenges of locating misplaced equipment. IT professionals who use disposal tags can typically account for nearly 100% of retired assets, compared to 75% when relying on serial numbers alone.
• Using disposal tags makes finding misplaced equipment a much faster process. If an IT asset manager loses track of an asset, they can track it down much faster with a disposal tag.
• ITAD disposal tracking policies are a prime target of aggressive legal counselors. Disposal tags significantly reduce the risk of liability in the event of a punitive class-action lawsuit by establishing a clear chain of custody.
• Disposal tags also deter theft. Employees are far less likely to steal equipment if they know it’s easy to track using the asset disposal tag.

Today’s IT managers have much more to do than use their limited time to track down missing assets. Senior managers also shouldn’t have to worry about the vulnerability of their IT disposal process. Disposal tags are an easy-to-use, low-cost tool for remedying these issues.

Asset Tracking Made Easy

Using disposal tags together with modern technology makes ITAD remarkably easy. The right software will enable you to track, manage, and monitor the activity of any number of ITAD projects. It will also help you achieve consistent and consolidated reporting from multiple vendors.

With the latest ITAD disposal software, you can maintain an overarching view of your organization’s expired assets. What’s more, you can use that information to track records and perform detailed analytics. The leading ITAD disposal software even allows you to benchmark your asset disposal performance against other organizations.

Ideally, you want an application that works with any ITAD vendor. A leading IT asset disposition firm, such as Retire-IT, can provide you with the technology to track expired equipment using disposal tags on a single platform.

Your Partner in Effective ITAD

Disposal tags are your company’s weapon in the fight against data breaches and asset mismanagement. However, you’ll need the right ITAD partner behind you to ensure you’re fully protected.

Retire-IT is your solution for shrewd yet sensible IT asset disposal. From servers to smartphones, we’ll help you manage the constant cycle of asset disposition.

Our competitors tag equipment after receiving it at their facility—a practice that benefits the vendor but does nothing to protect your company. Retire-IT looks out for you and your team by supplying tags for your assets before they ship.

We also provide you with cutting-edge technology that can help track the full expanse of your assets, ensure you receive top dollar for your equipment, and verify that your data is destroyed completely.

Contact Retire-IT today at (888) 839-6555 or contact us online to reduce your ITAD disposal exposure.