A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away…people still had the same IT problems and concerns we deal with today. But rather than just using the force, companies can use these four lessons to help improve their excess IT equipment process:
1. Protect your organization from losing the death star plans – Data and confidentiality breaches are a major liability for all organizations. In Star Wars, Darth Vader spent the entirety of a movie looking for the stolen Death Star Plans and that breach ultimately lead to the destruction of the Death Star. The average US data breach can cost an organization over 4 million dollars. Ensuring that your organization is following guidelines from documents like the NIST 800-88 can protect you from lengthy and costly investigations related to data breaches. This will help prevent your company from ending up like the Death Star and hearing an auditor say “they find your lack of data security disturbing”.
2. Make sure that your IT storage area doesn’t look like the inside of the Jawa’s Sandcrawler – Sometimes it may seem like an easy approach to storing your excess IT equipment…just throw it into a room or storage location. But by doing so you could be devaluing the equipment due to damage that occurs, you could increase lost production time from staff that have to recover an asset and it will increase the amount of time your vendor will require to remove the equipment. Spending slightly more time organizing equipment for potential liquidation could potentially increase your bottom line revenue while increasing productivity of your department during vendor removal and asset recovery.
3.Can your vendor help you find those assets that you’re looking for? – While trying to find the stolen Death Star plans, the Stormtrooper is famously told “these aren’t the droids you’re looking for”. What happens at your organization if an asset is mistakenly decommissioned and the search begins? Standardized reporting should be an integral part of your IT liquidation and removal process (both internally and externally). Many vendors provide these reports, but sometimes getting the answer may take time. Industry leading vendors now offer client portals that allow you to independently and expediently find those assets you are looking for and offer transparency of the process.
4. Is that deal you made “getting worse all the time?” – Lando Calrissian makes a deal with the Empire and at the time it seemed like the best option. As time goes on, he recognizes “this deal is getting worse all the time”. The same can be true working with any vendor that provides services. Customer service, reliability and maximum revenue generation is high at the beginning. As time goes on, some vendors will let one or all three areas begin to lapse and you have to wonder – what are the long terms benefits for your organization to maintain the relationship? Getting competitive quotes from other vendors and asking questions about what they can do to improve the process can ensure optimum performance in your company’s IT asset liquidation and data security projects. Any vendor that tells you they are the only ones who can do this, remember what Yoda said “No…there is another”.