When we talk to clients about IT Disposal, they often ask us about staff purchase programs.
Although it may seem like a good way to dispose of your old or excess IT assets, selling or giving away your IT equipment to staff could expose your organization’s proprietary data, and cost you more than you think.
To avoid any Data security risk, before you sell the equipment to staff you should ensure the disks are properly sanitized prior to handing the items over. Ensure you communicate clearly to staff that if they choose to buy their old machine, they will no longer have all of their personal files and photos on it. From our experience this is at times the expectation that staff have and one of the reasons they specifically want the old machine they were using.
Once machines have been wiped, unless the operating system is re-installed, your staff will likely need to purchase a new license for that machine.
Performing a disk wipe on these machines internally and if you choose to re-install an operating system can cost your internal IT staff a lot of time. Time which could be spent on more strategic IT initiatives.
The other consequence of selling your old IT to staff is the increase in support calls made to your IT department. After all, since old equipment is generally out of warranty, where is the first place employees will go if they have a problem with this machine? – Back to where they bought it.
Our recommendation is that if you do wish to implement a staff purchase program as part of your IT Disposal strategy, work with a reputable IT Disposal vendor who can manage the disk wipe process for you, can test and audit the machines for functionality and then sell the equipment to your staff, removing your organisation from the responsibility and time involved in the IT Disposal process. The remaining equipment that staff do not want will then be disposed properly, ensuring you are not left with excess equipment taking up valuable space.
If you are looking for an Computer Disposal solution for your organisation, please visit our IT Disposal page for more information.
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