Choosing A Data Center Decommissioning Company: 5 Things to Look For

Why hire a professional data center decommissioning company?

There are several reasons to make this decision.

Perhaps you don’t have the staff on-hand.

Maybe, you simply don’t want to have to deal with the headaches and risks involved.

For instance, all of those common decommissioning mistakes that come with this detailed undertaking.

Whatever the reason for choosing an outside professional to carry out your decommission project, this article will help you with useful tips.

We’ll give you some good info on how to find the right data center decommissioning company.

1. Decommissioning is a Specialized Skillset

Decommissioning is a specialized process that many IT professionals simply don’t have a lot of experience with.

Decommissions simply don’t come up very often for the typical IT person—perhaps once every two to three years.

Things go much smoother when you can rely on a team with direct experience and specialized knowledge. This knowledge only comes with handling on a regular basis, what many IT professionals only encounter every few years.

If you are moving across the street or going out of business entirely, a good data center decommissioning service can make a move a lot easier.

They can give you an optimum safety, security and return on your equipment.

The skills and knowledge required to effectively decommission a datacenter are not necessarily the same as those required to manage live IT resources.

Offloading a datacenter decommission onto an outside team can free up your own team to do what they do best. This means they can manage the live IT infrastructure and applications that run on them.

2. Pick a Service That Will Give You a Good Return

You want someone who works with you to validate your equipment and vets for you.

Computer and server recycling is not just environmentally responsible, but it is also fiscally responsible.

While the total piece of equipment as a whole may not have much value, the components of the hardware often do.

And to get a maximum return on your equipment, you need to choose the right provider.

You don’t just need someone who can handle just your big ticket equipment. You’ll also want someone who will handle everything in the datacenter that you need decommissioned.

This will including cables, power cords, uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) and peripherals like racks, rails and cabinets.

Don’t get stuck with these odds and ends. Especially if such equipment is old or proprietary, without any possibility of repurposing it.

3. Choose a Service That Has Specialized Experience with Decommissioning

Data center decommissioning is a complex process.

It requires each step be carried out in a precise order.

Doing things in the wrong order can throw off the entire flow of the operation and require time-consuming re-work.

At times, the team will need to combine its efforts. And, other times, there will be many different tasks requiring the team to spread out.

Choose a company that is aware of the practices associated with ITAD.

This expertise ensures that your equipment will be disposed of safely and in a way that is environmentally responsible. It also ensures that you will get maximum value for your hardware.

4. Work with a Data Center Decommissioning Company That Plans Appropriately

You want a company that will make the proper preparations.

Safety is important, not just for the company doing the decommission activity or its workers, but also for the company hiring another company to do such work.

By securing your equipment against damage, it retains the maximum value that it can get.

This means that you will get maximum value for your decommissioned equipment.

A good plan will keep the tasks at hand on schedule; allowing the decommission to be completed in a timely manner.

Failing to adequately plan can create costly delays. You want a company who makes a decommission checklist part of their process.

From teardown to palletization and loading. Safety risks must be identified and accounted for.

Not using tip guards might save time, but if something goes wrong, any time savings will quickly disappear.

Transport heavy equipment on pallets or crates. Avoiding is a shortcut that’s simply too risky both for workers and the equipment in transit.

Anyone who wants to save time and a big headache will want to choose a decommissioning provider that keeps safety foremost in mind.

Yesterday’s racks and chassis are lighter than the generation before, but they are still heavy enough to be cumbersome if not secured properly.

Trying to avoid these safety procedures introduces unnecessary worry and risk into the process.

5. Use Someone Who Uses Data Security and Destruction Protocols

Your hardware may contain hard drives and other media that contain sensitive data.

From backups to actual database files, or even spreadsheets, you don’t want any of this information to fall into the wrong hands. Not only could it provide potential for identity theft, but it could also be a leak of proprietary or confidential information. This could have serious intellectual property ramifications.

Such a potential data leak also provides new vectors of attack against your live data. You want a decommission team that will treat this sensitive data with the concern that it demands.

As a note, always physically destroy drives if data can’t be removed.

Conclusion

If you are completely shutting down your data center or upgrading, using a data center decommissioning company can often be a great option.

A good company can cut down on the stress and confusion that comes with the process.

If you simply use the steps above, you’ll greatly increase your chances of having a successful data center decommission. This also means more money for your old IT assets.

We’d also recommend you reading our blog on the Best Places to Sell Used IT Equipment. And for selling computers in bulk, and even servers in bulk, take a look here.